With global climate models indicating a further 20 per cent decline in rainfall across south-eastern Australia by 2030, irrigated agriculture, particularly in the southern Murray–Darling Basin, is suddenly facing an uncertain future. Now that the new COAG National Water Plan is signed, how might our irrigation systems be adapted for the 21st century?

Australian authorities on population growth warn that it is the fundamental sustainability priority being perilously overlooked.

China's rapid urbanisation is cause for concern, but remarkable initiatives in cities such as Rizhao, Wuhan and Beijing are leading to a broader endorsement of sustainability principles.

International scientists are now in little doubt about the cause of a threat confronting up to one-third of all marine life: the 27 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide released each year by human activity are gradually dissolving into the ocean's upper layers, turning them more acidic.

Modelling is showing that smart climate mitigation in Australia and carbon credits for project partnerships with developing countries under the UN Clean Development Mechanism could help get Australia to net greenhouse emissions neutrality by 2050. Mike Smith and Karlson Hargroves provide a second instalment on the opportunities for Australia in working with developing nations.

The transition to more sustainable development is requiring fundamental changes in thinking about our complex environment. As Dr Leonie Pearson explains, we need to better understand that nature and humanity are dynamic and co-evolving, and that achieving sustainability is not the single goal of decreased consumption, but rather of increasing our adaptive capacity to external shocks and challenges.

With the emerging imperative for organisations to examine all avenues to reduce their environmental impacts, product stewardship schemes are seeing greater uptake – although the 'how to' still remains the main challenge in Australia.

Hitting the brakes on suburban sprawl means shifting developers' focus to urban renewal, but rethinking city spaces is far from trivial. A project in Canberra's East Lake area is testing a new science-based approach.

Under the Sustainable Communities Initiative (SCI), CSIRO brings together partners from business, government and non-government organisations to work with communities to develop innovative solutions that address their local sustainability challenges.