This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: A new study led by the University of Alicante (UA) and the Mediterranean Center for Environmental Studies (CEAM) analyzes the barriers separating scientific knowledge from environmental policy and its effective implementation. The research sets out how long it takes for scientific knowledge in ecology to reach environmental policies and the extent to which these policies subsequently translate into real-world outcomes.
Published in Cell Reports Sustainability under the title "Quantifying the gap from scientific evidence to environmental policy and implementation across scales," the paper addresses two fundamental gaps: the divide between science and policy and the disconnect between policy formulation and its actual implementation. The team, which includes researchers from the Department of Ecology and the Ramon Margalef Multidisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies at the UA, analyzed the emergence of various ecological concepts in scientific literature and their subsequent incorporation into major United Nations environmental conventions. The findings show that, on average, around seven years elapse before these concepts are integrated into international policies.
Older concepts—those available in scientific literature for a longer time—tend to experience shorter delays, while incorporation depends heavily on the alignment between scientific and political agendas. In this respect, the results challenge the assumption that generating scientific evidence is sufficient on its own to ensure its automatic translation into policy decisions. The study also examines what happens once environmental commitments are established, using biodiversity as a case study.
The data demonstrate that the effectiveness of conservation measures increases as the scale of implementation narrows, proving greater at local or regional levels than at the global scale. This outcome highlights that establishing broad international targets is necessary but insufficient: Success depends on whether these targets can be translated into concrete measures, resources and actions tailored to specific territories. The study proposes that narrowing these gaps requires moving toward knowledge co-production models, in which scientists, policymakers, managers and other stakeholders participate from the initial stages of defining problems and solutions.
In a context of accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss, the paper emphasizes that the challenge lies not only in generating robust scientific knowledge but also in delivering it more rapidly to decision-makers to drive effective action. Luna Morcillo et al, Quantifying the gap from scientific evidence to environmental policy and implementation across scales, Cell Reports Sustainability (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2026.100831 BA art history, MA material culture.
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