Editorial Note
Today's world faces interwoven crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution. Environmental risks continue to rank among the most severe global threats in the World Economic Forum’s 2026 Global Risks Report. “Strictly preventing and controlling environmental risks” has been explicitly written into the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Comprehensively Promoting the Development of a “Beautiful China”. In this context, the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences has launched the journal Environmental Risk, which is dedicated to providing scientists, engineers, policymakers and industry professionals with an internationally influential platform for academic exchange and to advancing environmental risk control and governance.
The inaugural issue brings together prominent voices from China's environmental governance decision-making sphere and from the frontiers of science. Xie Zhenhua, former Special Envoy for Climate Change Affairs of China, and Huang Runqiu, Minister of Ecology and Environment, have contributed prefatory messages that, from the dual perspectives of global governance and Chinese practice, set out the urgency and strategic significance of environmental risk prevention and control in our time. The three research articles focus respectively on building an intelligent environmental risk database for new pollutants, on chemical pollution risks across the life cycle of lithium-ion batteries and solar photovoltaics, and on a water quality risk assessment framework for the long-term safe use of reclaimed water on a large scale, systematically addressing the most challenging issues in current environmental risk research.
The journal looks forward to working hand in hand with peers worldwide to meet, through rigorous academic research, the practical needs of environmental risk prevention and control, and to advance together the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge in this field.
Preface to the inaugural issue of Environmental Risk
Xie Zhenhua
Preface to the inaugural issue of Environmental Risk
Huang Runqiu
Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of China, Beijing 100006
Developing an integrated intelligent environmental risk database for systematic risk management of emerging contaminants
Bin Wanga,b,*, Xiaogang Wanga, Liang Zhoua, Liping Hengc, Gang Yud,e,**
a School of Environment, Tsinghua University, State Key Laboratory of Regional Environment and Sustainability, Beijing 100084, China
b Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou), Tsinghua University, Suzhou 215163, China
c School of Chemistry, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
d School of Technology for Sustainability, Advanced Interdisciplinary Institute of Environment and Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Wastewater Information Analysis and Early Warning, Zhuhai 519087, China
e Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China
Chemical pollution risks across the life cycle of lithium-ion batteries and solar photovoltaics: A critical review
Fengqiong Shia,b,*, Yuehong Zhaoa,b, Yafei Zhaoa,c, Hongbin Caoa,b
a Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
b Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Science Data Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
c College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Water quality risk assessment framework for the long-term safety of large-scale reclaimed water reuse
Dongbin Weia,b,*, Feipeng Wanga,b, Qiwen Ana,b, Yun Luc, Zhuo Chenc, Yijia Liua,b, Yuan Guia,b, Yarong Qic, Ren Dingc, Zitong Liaoc, Hongying Huc,d
a State Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, China
b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
c School of Environment, Tsinghua University, State Key Laboratory of Regional Environmental and Sustainability, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Microorganism Application and Risk Control, Beijing 100084, China
d Research Institute for Environmental Innovation (Suzhou), Tsinghua University, Suzhou 215163, China
About the Journal
Environmental Risk (Chinese:环境风险) is sponsored by the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences and published by Elsevier. Academician Xi Beidou serves as Editor-in-Chief. The editorial board comprises leading experts and scholars in relevant fields from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries, as well as China. The journal is a quarterly, globally open-access publication, and all articles are free to read and download.
The journal focuses on topics such as environmental pollution, climate change, ecosystem transformation and new pollutants. It highlights high-quality original academic research in four major risk areas—environment, ecology, health, and climate—and provides an internationally influential academic exchange platform for scientists, engineers, policymakers, and industry professionals.
Journal website: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/environmental-risk
