Time lags in environmental governance: A critical review

While time lags play a critical role in environmental governance, research on their causes and impacts has largely been sector-specific, hindering the emergence of a cross-disciplinary body of knowledge. Here, we utilize a novel framework-the temporal Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response, to synthesize the scientific literature on time lags across a wide range of environmental challenges. The framework facilitates the categorization and analysis of lags both within the ecological system and societal responses. A full-text analysis of 101 studies reveals common themes-such as long ecosystem lags, and shared response lags mechanisms across a range of environmental issues. We further explore how time lag analysis complements sustainability transitions research, highlighting the ways in which ecological lags influence the dynamics of socio-technical transitions, underscoring the importance of encompassing both ecological and social system dynamics. One key insight from this analysis is the importance of decoupling response lags from ecosystem lags to promote sustainability.