Editorial Introduction : Special Issue on “Environmental Planning”

Abstract

The natural environment is where our human societies are based on and draw resources from. We breathe air, drink water, reside on land, harvest the crops and manufacture the goods that we need with biotic and abiotic matters from the environment. It also absorbs the wastes that we discharge, forming ecosystems that have enveloped us for millions of years (Donald, 2009). However, due to the rapid population increase, industrialization and excessive use of fossil fuels in the past two centuries, severe environmental problems have emerged, among which energy and climate change are amongst the most concerned (Harris, 2012). Meanwhile, besides the geologic hazards such as earthquake, volcano eruptions and landslides that have always presented threats to human beings, atmospheric hazards such as floods and draughts are now intensified due to climate changes induced by human activities (IPCC, 2014). This special issue addresses on these three key issues: disaster mitigation, energy and climate change.