Trans-boundary water agreements are usually conceived as allocation agreements. In other words, water is treated as if it were a pie to be divided among the riparian states. The treatment of water as if it were as immobile as land may be useful in the short term, but it is fundamentally flawed as a means to avoid conflict as well as to ensure efficient, equitable, and sustainable management of water over the long term.

Woody biomass has gained considerable attention in the U.S. as a feedstock for producing renewable bioenergy. Though these resources are generally not cost competitive with fossil fuels under current technology and market conditions, they are likely to generate numerous socioeconomic and environmental benefits to the entire nation. Since the positive externalities associated with wood-based bioenergy production are not fully accounted for in the market place, policy incentives could play an important role in its promotion in the future.

Susceptibility to desertification in southern Europe is increasing and rehabilitation of desertification-threatened Mediterranean soils is a challenge due to the inhospitality of the environment. In particular, recovery of anthropogenic soils (mainly human-derived artefacts from housing construction and other inert materials or topsoil of terminal phase municipal landfills) cannot rely on spontaneous processes and low-cost/low-impact strategies are needed to prevent desertification.