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This special issue examines environmental governance, conceptualized as environmental protections, support for sustainable development, and the regulation of large-scale development projects. Through analysis of dynamics during the commodities super-cycle of the 2000s–2010s, contributors explore the multifaceted ways that societal actors interact with the state to support, oppose, or modify environmental governance, with a focus on communities impacted by export activities and economic elites who favor their expansion. Several papers seek to understand the governance of sectors—mining, oil, and soy. Others begin with natural areas threatened by development—urban wetlands and forests. As a collection, the papers reveal three commonalities that affect the extent to which environmental governance institutions address demands of impacted communities: (1) the question of whether a policymaking process takes place in reaction to mobilizing, or whether it proactively engages environmental questions as they pertain to local populations; (2) strategies by civil society, and above all impacted residents, to ensure the implementation of environmental policies; and (3) debates over knowledge, including community efforts to harness expertise and information to counter paradigms advanced by business actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simultaneously achieving economic development and environmental protection is a shared global challenge. While the positive effect of environmental regulations on protecting the environment has been widely recognized, the attention paid to low-carbon governance and corporate green transformation remains insufficient. Based on the two-stage least square regression model (2SLS) of instrumental variables, this paper utilizes panel data from China to identify the influence mechanism of government low-carbon governance on enterprise green development. It explores the effect of low-carbon governance on enterprise green development from the perspective of fiscal decentralization. The findings show that (1) Low-carbon governance significantly promotes corporate green development, primarily through improving industrial structure and technological innovation; (2) Low-carbon governance notably promotes the green development of private enterprises but has little effect on state-owned enterprises. There are also geographical differences, and the results are better in Eastern China than in the Central and Western parts of China; (3) Fiscal decentralization at both central and local levels inhibits the effect of low-carbon governance on driving corporate green development by causing a mismatch of human resources. Therefore, to promote corporate green development, low-carbon governance must prioritize green development, actively guide industrial structural upgrading and enterprise technological innovation, implement differentiated low-carbon governance measures tailored to different ownership enterprises, and optimize the assessment indicators for fiscal decentralization. This paper helps deepen the understanding of the relationship between government low-carbon governance and enterprise green development in developing countries. It can be used as a reference for government departments to formulate relevant policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing uncertainty of urban security, urban resilience construction with risk awareness and bottom-line thinking has become essential for promoting sustainable urban development. This paper measures China's urban resilience development index (CRDI) based on 284 cities in China (except Tibet) using the entropy method from four dimensions: economic, social, environmental, and infrastructure, and analyzes it by combining coupling coordination degree and barrier factor analysis. We find that: (1) At the national level, CRDI and its sub-dimensions show an increasing trend in time, a decreasing spatial layout from coastal to inland, and a "high-high-low-low" clustering feature in space. (2) At the regional level, the CRDI is from high to low in the east, middle, and west order. The sub-dimensions are from high to low in the order of east, middle, and west for economic, social, and infrastructure resilience and from high to low in the order of east, west, and middle for environmental resilience. (3) To coupling coordination degree, the CRDI index coupling coordination is increasing in time trend but is still on the verge of dissonance. (4) Social resilience is the main obstacle factor. In the indicator layer, human resources, innovation, education, security, living, and environmental protection are the areas where CRDI coordinated development is the key to improvement. Based on the above empirical evidence, this paper proposes countermeasures to optimize urban resilience construction from four perspectives: economic, social, environmental, and infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of the digital economy on sustainable development, using panel data from cities at the prefecture level and above in China from 2011 to 2019. The results indicate: (1) The digital economy is conducive to boosting growth, increasing employment, reducing energy consumption, and cutting emissions, thereby promoting sustainable development. These findings prove robust. (2) Mechanism test outcomes reveal that, from the perspective of technological innovation, the digital economy can promote sustainable development through increasing R&D input and enhancing innovation output. (3) An extended analysis of the risk of a digital "divide" demonstrates that "dividend" of the digital economy is primarily manifests in spurring economic growth, enhancing energy efficiency, and strengthening environmental protection in lagging regions, while the digital "divide" effect is manifested in the stronger employment stimulating effect of developed regions versus backward areas. The results of this study not only enrich the relevant research system, but also provide empirical evidence to support accelerating digital transformation, strengthening technological innovation governance, and advancing sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2015, The United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, which includes libraries as important contributors to developing nature preservation strategies and enabling the progress of humanity. Green libraries have been an innovative addition to librarianship, integrating the principles of sustainable development and ecological awareness in the realm of library design and operation. Such an ecological concept of librarianship implies the application of green architecture and energy efficiency, as well as the usage of energy-efficient materials, renewable resources and recycling disposable facilities. Ecological libraries actively promote environmental awareness and education of their users through programs, workshops and resources that encourage the exchange of knowledge and ideas for sustainable development. This integration of green architecture into librarianship contributes to the creation of environmentally sustainable communities and improvement of the environmental quality. The paper focuses on demonstrating that libraries can serve as an example of a balanced union of nature and culture owing to their building procedures and technological equipment, as several inspiring examples worldwide can show. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern technologies continuously change humans and their relationship with the environment. They can achieve a lot in the field of chemical engineering, thereby improving and enhancing the quality of human life, but on the other hand, technologies can be used to destroy human lives. Technical and technological culture (hereinafter referred to as TTC) is the entirety of social achievements in the field of technical and technological sciences and their application, as well as of the all knowledge and skills needed to understand the achievements, use them correctly, transfer them to the younger generation and create new values in this field. This paper will present a pilot study aimed to examine the attitudes and beliefs of engineers, Technological (chemical engineering) and Technical faculties, regarding the development of TTC and to determine socio-demographic factors that may influence its development. The research was conducted in Serbia and Croatia. The results indicate that the most important aspects of TTC are: the development of awareness of sustainable development, the impact on environmental protection, etc. The respondents recognized the ethical challenges we face today, the need for the education of young engineers and the promotion of TTC in the media and professional public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resource-based regions support national economic development and are essential sources of basic energy and raw materials. In the post-pandemic era, however, there are practical situations to deal with, such as a fractured industrial chain, a weaker industrial structure, and a sharp reduction in economic benefits. Based on data collected from 68 cities in China, from 2010 to 2021, with 816 observations, this paper explores the industrial development process of resource-based regions in China and the change in the toughness of the industrial structure under the impact of COVID-19. The paper studies and analyzes industrial development trends, industrial structure toughness, and spatial spillover effects. The methods used are the Markov chain model and the Industrial Structure Advancement Index. By building the spatial Dubin model, the paper analyzes the spatial spillover effect of regional industrial development. It decomposes the spillover effect using the partial differential model based on regression. The results show that, during the study period, the comprehensive development level of industries in resource-based regions in China was slowly improving and tended to stabilize after entering the post-pandemic era. The evolution of an advanced industrial structure is significantly heterogeneous among regions, and each region has different toughness. The impact of COVID-19 has reduced the toughness of China's resource-based regions' industrial structure. The spatial spillover effect of regional industrial development is significant. Labor force, technology input, and industrial-structure optimization have different impacts on the industrial development of neighboring regions. In the post-pandemic era, China has used new management methods for more innovation. In order to achieve low-carbon, environmental protection, and sustainable development of resources, realize the rapid recovery of the toughness of industrial structure in China's resource-based cities, and reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, China proposes to expand the supply of resources, improve the allocation of resources, optimize the direction, promote the rational flow and efficient aggregation of various factors, and enhance the impetus for innovation and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the relevance of eco-industrial clusters in promoting Ukraine's post-war reconstruction and sustainable development. To this aim, the paper carries out a comprehensive literature review of academic articles, reports, and case studies on eco-industrial clusters and sustainable development, collect data on Ukraine's post-war reconstruction efforts and the current state of its industrial sector, and analyze relevant legislation and policies. The results show that the success of eco-industrial clusters can be attributed to several critical factors, including robust collaboration between companies, a supportive regulatory framework, and a long-term vision for sustainable development. In the context of Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, an eco-industrial cluster offers an opportunity to build back better by creating new jobs, promoting sustainable economic growth, and enhancing environmental protection. This suggests that an effective ecoindustrial cluster in Ukraine should align with the country's long-term vision for sustainable development, identify industries and companies that can benefit from collaboration and resource sharing, and prioritize stakeholder engagement and public awareness. The involvement of research institutions, a supportive regulatory framework, and financial resources from international donors and investors are also critical for the success of an eco-industrial cluster in Ukraine. By adopting a collaborative, innovative, and sustainable approach to economic development, Ukraine can build a more resilient, inclusive, and prosperous future for its people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous development of global economic and trade activities, environmental problems have become an important factor restricting the sustainable development of all countries. How to realize the coordinated development of international trade and environmental protection has become a major issue facing the international community. Since China joined the WTO, its share of international trade has been increasing continuously. In order to deeply analyze the influence of international carbon emission trading policy on domestic carbon emissions, we use an input–output model and a GTAP analysis method to theoretically calculate the carbon emissions of the international trade of various departments in Shandong Province. At the same time, the implicit carbon emission index of various industries in 2022 is calculated through the direct energy consumption coefficient. The results show that there are significant differences in the impact of the carbon tariff system on different industries. In terms of the carbon emission index, the food processing industry showed a decrease of 18.99 Mt, while the implied carbon emission of the tobacco, textile and leather manufacturing industry reached 30.56 Mt due to the continuous expansion of trade scale. In contrast, the implied carbon emission level of the metal product processing industry reached 5.3 Mt, while the carbon emission of traditional trading industries such as coal mining was almost unaffected by international trade, and its carbon emission index reached the highest level of 5.89 in 2020. In terms of trade impact, high-trade industries such as the food processing industry are significantly affected by the carbon tariff policy, and their share has dropped from 5.89% to 3.95% in the past decade. The carbon emissions generated by GDP growth established by the GTAP model are more convincing. This model can directly reflect the energy efficiency of a region from the side. Based on the present situation of international trade, this paper analyzes the inequality of the current carbon tariff system, and puts forward some policies to optimize the energy structure to reduce carbon emissions and expand domestic demand to reduce the dependence on international trade. Through the GTAP model, we put forward policy suggestions to optimize the energy structure to reduce carbon emissions and the dependence on international trade by expanding domestic demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ebinur Lake Basin is an ecologically sensitive area in an arid region. Investigating its land use and land cover (LULC) change and assessing and predicting its ecosystem service value (ESV) are of great importance for the stability of the basin's socioeconomic development and sustainable development of its ecological environment. Based on LULC data from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, we assessed the ESV of the Ebinur Lake Basin and coupled the grey multi-objective optimization model with the patch generation land use simulation model to predict ESV changes in 2035 under four scenarios: business-as-usual (BAU) development, rapid economic development (RED), ecological protection (ELP), and ecological–economic balance (EEB). The results show that from 1990 to 2020, the basin was dominated by grassland (51.23%) and unused land (27.6%), with a continuous decrease in unused land and an increase in cultivated land. In thirty years, the total ESV of the study area increased from 18.62 billion to 67.28 billion yuan, with regulation and support services being the dominant functions. By 2035, cultivated land increased while unused land decreased in all four scenarios compared with that in 2020. The total ESV in 2035 under the BAU, RED, ELP, and EEB scenarios was 68.83 billion, 64.47 billion, 67.99 billion, and 66.79 billion yuan, respectively. In the RED and EEB scenarios, ESV decreased by 2.81 billion and 0.49 billion yuan, respectively. In the BAU scenario, provisioning and regulation services increased by 6.05% and 2.93%, respectively. The ELP scenario, focusing on ecological and environmental protection, saw an increase in ESV for all services. This paper can assist policymakers in optimizing land use allocation and provide scientific support for the formulation of land use strategies and sustainable ecological and environmental development in the inland river basins of arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental protection talents training (EPTT) is recognized as a key prerequisite for maintaining environmental sustainability, and in order to study the influence of each player on EPTT. This paper innovatively constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model of government, university and enterprise. The equilibrium points and evolutionary stabilization strategies of each participant are solved by replicating the dynamic equations, and the behaviors of each subject in EPTT are analyzed so as to clarify the behavioral characteristics and optimal strategies of the government's participation in EPTT. The results show that enterprises occupy a more important position in influencing government decisions. The government should reduce the financial incentives for enterprises and replace them with greater policy support. Meanwhile, the government should actively promote the cultivation mechanism that integrates universities and enterprises. The results of the study can provide a decision-making basis for the government to promote the sustainable development of EPTT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development and the creation of smart, green cities requires cooperation in many scientific fields, including those related to ecology, mobility, or sustainable management, among others. Environmental protection is a particularly important element here. Atmospheric pollution, due to air movements, spreads over very large areas; therefore, air quality monitoring is crucial to ensure protection from harmful substances. One of the most severe sources of air pollution, accounting for as much as approximately 25% of total annual emissions within the EU, is road transport. Therefore, the European Union has set an ambitious target to reduce total emissions to 55% for cars and 50% for vans by 2030. In recent years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become increasingly popular in many scientific fields, including environmental protection and photogrammetry. The use of UAVs to identify harmful pollutants allows them to gain an advantage over conventional detection methods, due to the possibility of remote (therefore safe for humans), faster, and area-based measurements. Given the ever-expanding scale of the use of this technology, this paper presents the possibilities of using UAVs to identify and visualize (map) pollution. The examples presented in the foreign literature, as well as our own research, in imaging the altitude distribution of air pollutants; gaseous pollutants: C6H6, HCHO, SO2; and particulate matter: PM1, PM2.5, PM10 demonstrate the validity of such measures. This research was carried out in the area of one of Poland's key A4 highways. The maps obtained allow for an area-wise and altitude-wise presentation of one of the significant air pollutants in the EU. In addition, they can be a valuable source of information for the implementation of future projects and the improvement of road infrastructure, thus contributing to the reduction of air pollution and the creation of so-called "green cities". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature-based tourism is a type of tourism that is primarily concerned with the direct enjoyment of relatively undisturbed natural phenomena. Today, it is among the types of tourism which are characterised by significant growth rates at the global level. It has considerable growth potential and its development can concurrently ensure tourist satisfaction with the nature experience, profit for tourism providers, funds for environmental protection and an improvement in living standards in local communities. Nevertheless, it is also important to be aware of the potential negative implications of nature-based tourism development and to continuously manage all aspects of sustainability. This paper aims to determine the main study aspects of nature-based tourism, the most common methodological approaches and the most important characteristics of its contemporary development. For this purpose, an analysis of recent empirical research on nature-based tourism was conducted, and a total of 41 original scientific papers were included in the analysis. The four study aspects derived from this analysis contribute to determining the general characteristics of nature-based tourism's contemporary development, the prerequisite factors for this development, and the effects it has on a given area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the influence of the dual policies of sustainable economic development and the national dual-carbon target, the establishment of an environmental protection department for the treatment of heavily polluting industries is imminent, and the country has launched pollution control policies and regulations to restrict the emission rights of heavily polluting industries. Therefore, this paper focuses on whether the restriction of emission rights in key industries has reduced carbon emissions. To achieve this, this paper uses panel data of prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019 and adopts a two-way fixed-effects DID model to systematically analyze the impact of the key pollution industry governance policies launched by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on CO2 emissions in 2017. And further analyze the role of variables such as green technology innovation patents and energy efficiency using this model, while parallel trend tests and placebo tests, and related policies are used to ensure the robustness of the regression results. This paper reveals that: (1) The heavy pollution industry governance policy implemented in 2017 can effectively reduce CO2 emissions in the cities of the treated group, and the effect is more significant in the year of policy implementation; (2) Green utility patents and energy-use efficiency are the effective mediating mechanisms to reduce CO2 emissions; (3) Over time, the effect of heavy pollution industry governance policy on CO2 emissions gradually decreases; (4) The reliability of the baseline regression results of this paper is proved by the use of parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and tests excluding the influence factors such as relevant policies in the same period. Therefore, the key polluting industries treatment policy launched by China's Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2017 under the recent dual-carbon policy development goals formulated by China, can effectively reduce carbon emissions; however, in the future economic development process, the government should give more consideration to the continuity of the policy impact and its coherence on economic development when implementing the policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an overview of comparison of bioeconomy indicators, in Romania and European Union, related to Green Deal Pact of the EU. The so called European Green Deal, is a set of proposals adopted by European Commission in order to reduce the climate change by 2050.Official statistical data related to green transition were retrieved from Eurostat database. Specific indicators taken into consideration were circular material use rate, raw material consumption, valued added at factor cost and environmental protection expenditure. Comparison of the dynamics of these indicators for Romania vs other European Union member states, for latest available data, was plotted. When analyzing the data it can be observed that steps are being taken in each state towards fulfilling the objectives of green transition. However, Romania's bioeconomy is still underdeveloped as compared to most of the EU's member states. In order to support the Green Deal targets we need a national strategy and action plan towards green and just transition of our economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the long-term properties of cement-based and geopolymer materials exposed to outdoor environments, wet–dry cycles are usually used to accelerate their aging. The wet–dry cycling can simulate the effects of environmental factors on the long-term properties of the composites under natural conditions. Nowadays, the long-term properties of geopolymer materials are studied increasingly deeply. Unlike cement-based materials, geopolymers have better long-term properties due to their high early strength, fast hardening rate, and wide range of raw material sources. At the same time, natural cellulose fibers (NCFs) have the characteristics of abundant raw materials, low price, low carbon, and environmental protection. The use of NCFs as reinforcements of geopolymer matrix materials meets the requirements of sustainable development. In this paper, the types and properties of NCFs commonly used for geopolymer reinforcement and the polymerization mechanism of geopolymer matrix materials are summarized. By analyzing the properties of natural-cellulose-fiber-reinforced geopolymers (NCFRGs) under non-wet–dry cycles and NCFRGs under wet–dry cycles, the factors affecting the long-term properties of NCFRGs under wet–dry cycles are identified. Meanwhile, the degradation mechanism and mechanical properties of NCFRG composites after wet–dry cycles are analyzed. In addition, the relationship between the properties of composites and the change of microstructure of fiber degradation is further analyzed according to the results of microscopic analysis. Finally, the effects of wet–dry cycles on the properties of fibers and geopolymers are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significance of environmental governance is increasing worldwide, and Georgia is no exception. This article uses wide-ranging sources to provide comprehensive qualitative and quantitative data to discuss the most important aspects of environmental policy directions in Georgia. The results of the study show that: (a) it is crucial to increase public awareness about the importance of climate change and environmental protection; (b) introducing environmental and climate-related goals and objectives and green budgeting principles in national priorities is as important as implementing them effectively into practice; and (c) the practice of regulatory impact assessment needs further development in Georgia, especially in the environment and climate-related areas. Finally, the paper concludes that the lack of historical data is the main limitation for the current research, and proposes that scientific and practical work continues in the future to further explore the relationships between the country’s environmental policies and aspects of sustainable development on both an individual and public level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monitoring mine activities can help management track the status of mineral resource exploration and mine rehabilitation. It is crucial to the sustainable development of the mining industry and the protection of the geological environment in mining areas. To monitor the mining activities of shallow surface outcrops in the arid and semi-arid regions of northwest China, this paper proposes a remote sensing monitoring approach of mining activities based on deep learning and integrated interferometric synthetic aperture radar technique. This approach uses the DeepLabV3-ResNet model to identify and extract the spatial location of the mine patches and then uses object-oriented analysis and spatial analysis methods to optimize the mine patch boundaries. SBAS-InSAR technique is used to obtain the time-series deformation information of the mine patches and is combined with the multi-temporal optical imagery to analyze the mining activities in the study area. The proposed approach has a recognition accuracy of 95.80% for the identification and extraction of mine patches, with an F1-score of 0.727 at the pixel level, and the average area similarity for all patches is 0.78 at the object-oriented level. The proposed approach possesses the capability to analyze mining activities, indicating promising prospects for engineering applications. It provides a reference for monitoring mining activities using multisource satellite remote sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the impact of inclusive finance on agricultural green development, This paper uses both static panel and dynamic panel (system GMM model) estimation methods to make empirical analysis of the impact of inclusive financial development on agricultural green development. The results both find that there is a significant positive correlation between the level of inclusive financial development, real GDP per capita, the proportion of the added value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery in GDP and agricultural green development. This paper puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions to promote agricultural green development, including vigorously developing inclusive finance, promoting economic growth, promoting the development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery, and increasing environmental protection expenditures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is particularly essential in the equilibrium between man and nature because of its intimate contact with nature. So the cornerstone for the sustainable development of the human economy and society is the sustainable development of agriculture. When it comes to global trade, agricultural trade has always been in a very special position. The basic situation of agriculture involves food safety, environmental protection, Chinese politics, and many other issues. In order to overcome the problems of overlapping, repetitive, and too many indicators in the evaluation method of agricultural environmental sustainable development and unfavorable for practical operation, this paper proposes an ecological footprint model based on emergy. The model can effectively evaluate the ability of sustainable development of agricultural environment and solve the problem that traditional evaluation methods cannot comprehensively evaluate. This makes agricultural development sustainable and is conducive to the liberalization of international agricultural trade. The experimental results of this paper show that from 2014 to 2018, the degree of damage to the agricultural environment has increased from 21% to 45%, which has led to a decline in the quality of agricultural products, and the output and sales are not as good as before. It can be seen that only by ensuring the sustainable development of the agricultural environment can we ensure the smooth progress of the international agricultural trade liberalization and make China's economy flourish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International environmental law is the basic charter for dealing with international environmental issues, and it plays an important role in international environmental governance. In recent years, China's economy has achieved great development, but environmental problems are also very prominent. International environmental law provides a basic reference for China's environmental governance, but it also brings challenges to the development of China's environmental productivity to a certain extent. At the same time, due to the unique dominant position of international environmental law, it has played a certain restrictive role in the development of China's environmental productivity. Based on this, in order to promote the sustainable development of China's economy, this paper took China's industrial and agricultural development as the research object. This paper has conducted research on China's industrial and agricultural environmental productivity, aiming to explore the role of international environmental law in China's environmental productivity. The article first analyzed the limitation of international environmental law on China's environmental productivity, and then on this basis, the article conducted a numerical simulation of China's industrial and agricultural environmental productivity. Finally, starting from the actual development situation, the paper aimed to find out the numerical deviation of China's environmental productivity changes through quantitative analysis. In the course of the research on environmental productivity development, the article found a strong correlation between environmental productivity and international environmental law in China. The correlation between environmental productivity and international environmental law reaches 59.93% in South China and 61.02% in North China. Also, after a series of comparative analyses, the article finds that changes in climate characteristics can exacerbate the regulation of China by international environmental law and seriously affect China's economic development. In this case, China's economy declined by 2.6% year-on-year, which further pushed China to practice sustainable development strategies. This shows that it is essential to study the relationship between international environmental law and China's environmental productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the legal basis for the application of the precautionary principle in the WTO law, and determines the specifics of its application in relation to the basic concept of the precautionary principle. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the reach of this application in terms of opening up the optimal environmental protection. The paper also presents proposals for future normative solutions in this area with the aim of achieving an appropriate balance between the interests of international trade liberalization and environmental protection and accomplishing of the concept of sustainable development. With all the limitations related to the lack of adequate legal basis, but also the incompleteness and incoherence of the dispute resolution practice in the WTO, it can be concluded that the derived concept of application of the precautionary principle and its interpretation in the dispute resolution practice reduce the scope of its application in relation to the basic concept. Such a situation cannot meet in particular the needs of technological development, which inevitably leads to an increased risk in terms of impact on the environment, human health and flora and fauna. In such circumstances, when the importance of the application of this principle grows, it is necessary to find appropriate legal solutions that will ensure its optimal application. In this context, different models of action are possible, with all their limitations, the realization of which is quite questionable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of a green financial system can promote economic transformation and development, scientifically and effectively evaluate the green environmental protection level of finance in different cities, and provide a strong impetus for its future promotion. This paper introduces a BP neural network into the evaluation system of urban green finance progress and optimizes the model through GA. According to the constructed evaluation index system, this paper makes empirical analysis of the experimental city. The optimization results show that GA can improve the training error range of the BP neural network and increase the stability of evaluation model performance and the accuracy of evaluation results. Through empirical analysis, it is concluded that the development status of the urban economy, the mode and efficiency of capital distribution, and the degree of support for the environmental protection industry in terms of policy and capital will have a great impact on the development of its environmental protection finance. The support attitude of the local government and society in energy conservation, environmental protection, and green city construction provides a broad development space for green finance to a great extent. Cities should broaden the development channels of green finance and build a sound and scientific green financial service system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study of the water–energy–food nexus (WEF nexus), the importance of the intensity and quantity index system has been widely recognized. In order to study the impact of WEF on the economy, this paper establishes an intensity index system and a quantity index system, taking account of the impact of environmental pollution. Using a DEA model and China's provincial data from 2019, this paper calculated the efficiency of the WEF nexus with the developed intensity and quantity index systems. The results show that the efficiency is not high in areas with a high economic development level, and efficiency is not the lowest in areas with a relatively low economic development level. When considering environmental pollution, the efficiency of some provinces has increased significantly, indicating that the WEF nexus has not caused environmental damage and is conducive to sustainable economic development. In the two intensity index systems, the efficiency of the production system is significantly lower than that of the consumption system, indicating that there is a serious waste of cultivated land per capita. Compared with the intensity index system, the efficiency of the quantity index system is low, and the polarization is obvious. A high level of GDP does not mean a high level of economic development. There may be a low level of resource utilization technology or environmental pollution underlying it. It is unscientific to evaluate local economic development only by GDP. When evaluating the urban economy and national economy, we should conduct an overall study of WEF and reasonably allocate WEF resources, which will not only help to alleviate the current situation of resource shortage in various countries but also effectively promote the coordinated development of national and regional economies. At the same time, environmental protection should also be taken into account. Compared with the economic development model of developing the economy first and then solving environmental problems, developing and solving at the same time is more conducive to the sustainable development of the national economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In precolonial Africa, women were the major authorities in herbal remedies within their own homes and at the community level, where they focused on disease prevention and cure. Such roles were pushed to the periphery of Africa's health discourse by the introduction of Western modes of healing. Furthermore, missionaries branded African indigenous medicine (AIM) as evil and categorised it within the sphere of witchcraft. However, the emergence of new diseases which conventional medicine has found difficult to cure seems to have caused Africans to rethink their position on AIM. For example, there appears to have been a resurgence of interest in utilising AIMs during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Greater utilisation, while positive, may lead to herbs and plants becoming extinct if the harvesting is done haphazardly. Therefore, the intention of this article is to examine the intersections of gender and health in the COVID-19 context. The article seeks to establish the role that was and continues to be played by women in the utilisation of AIM within the context of COVID-19. The focus of the paper is on finding out the ways in which women are safeguarding plants and trees whose leaves, roots and barks are envisioned as effective in preventing infection as well as curing the disease. Data were gathered through informal interviews. Theoretically, the article makes use of gender and Afrocentricity as theories informing the study. Contribution: The article highlights the need for placing women at the centre of both health and environmental discourses for sustainable development. It argues for the recentring of women in Earth discourses. Hence, its contribution is in retrieving women's voices in health and Earth discourses in Zimbabwe for sustainable development to be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our planet is facing increasing challenges: climate change, biodiversity loss, pandemics, poverty, and many other problems closely linked to a deteriorating environment. Meanwhile, one of our most important assets, rangers working in protected and conserved areas responsible for managing large tracts of the planet's lands and waters, are often underutilized, underrecognized and underequipped. They are generally left out of the debate about conservation and sustainable development policy, despite being central to the success of those policies. This paper outlines the need for global leaders across multiple sectors to recognize the profession of rangers as essential planetary health workers and to position rangers more effectively within global conservation and environmental policy mechanisms. It introduces the challenges facing rangers, the emerging diversity of roles within the ranger profession and the important contribution of rangers to conservation and sustainable development. It presents policy and implementation avenues to improve recognition and professionalization of rangers as key executors of conservation and development policy, particularly considering the recent Global Biodiversity Framework ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Monasteries, especially Benedictine monasteries, have developed a close relationship with nature based on a respect for creation and a goal of self-sufficiency. There seems to be an elective affinity between monasticism and ecologism. Since the second half of the 20th century, monasteries have been engaging in ecological practices, and in many cases have been pioneers in these practices in their region. How can the role of monasteries in ecology be explained? To what extent is the ecology practiced by monasteries different from that of society? And what developments can we observe in this field over the last 20 years? After presenting the background of the elective affinity between monasticism and ecologism, I will explore the practices that monastics put in place to act sustainably for the protection of the environment. The last part of the paper deals with the shift from respect for creation to ecologism in the vocabulary monastics use today and to what extent we can speak of a charismatic ecologism. This article is based on field inquiries conducted in monastic communities in six countries in Europe and four countries in Africa between 2004 and 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the light of current global tendencies and a concern for the issue of environmental protection, this paper aims to provide an analysis of most important issues in this field, within the EU Law. Elements of the right to a healthy environment are systematically regulated in the communitarian law. First, there is a long-standing normative activity of these issues, which in the last two years resulted in the adoption of new strategic documents. Second, jurisprudence of the ECJ has also followed development of the legislation, as well as circumstances in which those documents have been applied. Therefore, special attention is drawn to the newly-adopted general acts, created with long-term aims, and based on normative and factual experience over past decades. Its purpose is to achieve sustainable development goals in a multidimensional manner. Furthermore, an analysis of selected judgments of the ECJ shows the efficiency in application of relevant regulations and directives. Moreover, the interpretation of the EU law is of special importance, where the ECJ has a significant role. With regard to the universal character of this topic, the paper provides a short overview of the relevant legal framework in the USA, Norway and Serbia. Negotiations on the joining the EU imply the harmonization of domestic law with the standards of the communitarian law. By observing the Serbian environmental legal framework, it could be said that there is determination and concrete measures in the process of harmonization. On the basis of previously mentioned issues, authors structured the paper and aspects of the rese arch contained therein, followed by the conclusions provided in the final chapter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protection of the natural environment is one of the most significant global challenges for the international community. World problems arising as a result of the incineration of fossil fuels, excessive CO2 emissions, erosion and soil degradation, as well as air pollution with the accelerating greenhouse effect and changes to the climate condition, make it necessary to take action at many levels. Environmental protection and the protection of natural resources need to follow the principles of sustainable development. Looking for alternative energy sources is appropriate but not sufficient and should be conducted in various areas since natural environmental changes are accelerating with many consequences. Therefore, there is demand for implementation of applications aimed at protecting air, and soil, preventing waste formation and combating the greenhouse effect. Therefore, the multi-directional use of various biocarbon substances for activities related to renewable energy, land reclamation, and carbon dioxide capture from the atmosphere is a promising and significant direction. This paper presents multidirectional analysis related to the use of biocarbon obtained from biomass and MSW waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of China's economy, Chinese people tend to eat foods rich in fat, sugar and protein. This change in dietary pattern has brought double challenges to China's sustainable development of environment and human health. So it has become urgent for the nation to shift to a healthy and sustainable dietary pattern. Based on the China Health and Nutrition Survey database, this study used K-means cluster analysis to classify China's existing dietary patterns into quasi-southern, quasi-northern and quasi-western patterns. Two alternative recommended dietary patterns, Chinese dietary and planet health patterns, were selected to compare the effects of environment and health. The results show that a shift from the three existing dietary patterns to two alternative dietary patterns could enhance sustainable development of environment, especially for the quasi-western pattern shifting to the planet health pattern. Also, a shift would have of great benefits for human health, effectively reduce the relative risks of diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. The greatest benefits would come from shifting the quasi-western pattern benefits to one of the two alternative dietary patterns in terms of environment effects, and the quasi-southern pattern benefits most in terms of health effects. Shifting to the planet health pattern is more effective than the Chinese dietary pattern both in environment and human health. This paper provides policy recommendations to vigorously advocate dietary balance, scientifically promote dietary patterns, and change consumer dietary behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural fiber composites have become a hot research topic all over the world, and have received strong support from governments. This paper first reviews the overall trend and development history of natural fiber composites, and analyzes their global market. Then the research highlights and situation of natural fiber composites are pointed out. Finally, the main industrial application fields of natural fiber composites are also summarized. In the future, High-performance and high value-added natural fiber composites are the important directions of global industrialization market. And it is necessary to further refine the key technologies behind the industrialization, and promote the green, intelligent and high-performance manufacturing of such composites, so as to play a positive role in national environmental protection and social sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This academic paper investigates the intricate relationship between macroeconomic policies, international trade practices, and sustainable development within the context of Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG12), which emphasizes sustainable consumption and production. The objective is to explore a path towards sustainable economic growth that strikes a balance between economic progress and ecological sustainability. The study conducts a comprehensive analysis of the challenges and opportunities involved in aligning macroeconomic and trade policies with the principles of SDG12. It draws on a meticulous review of literature, academic discourse, empirical evidence, and various case studies from different countries. Methodology: The research methodology entails an extensive review of pertinent literature to establish theoretical foundations and validate findings through empirical evidence. The study incorporates insightful case studies to exemplify successful approaches employed by nations at the intersection of macroeconomic policies, international trade, and sustainable development. Rigorous and systematic analysis drives the exploration of prospects and obstacles surrounding sustainable economic growth. Practical Results: The paper presents practical results derived from the analysis of case studies, showcasing successful strategies employed by diverse countries in harmonizing economic growth with environmental sustainability. These results offer valuable insights and replicable blueprints for other nations seeking to balance economic progress with SDG12 principles. The study identifies potential areas of conflict and collaboration between macroeconomic and trade policies concerning sustainable development. Conclusions: In conclusion, achieving sustainable economic growth requires coherent policy formulation, aligning macroeconomic and trade strategies with SDG12. The paper proposes specific, implementable policy recommendations to guide countries towards a sustainable trajectory of economic growth while upholding environmental preservation. Emphasizing the significance of cohesive policy frameworks, the study underscores the potential for building a robust, sustainable global economy that addresses growth and environmental conservation in unison. Policymakers can draw from these insights to advance the broader objective of promoting sustainable consumption and production globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to improve the environmental protection effect of agricultural body, this paper analyses the development of rural economy based on the concept of sustainable development. Moreover, in order to prevent the development and utilisation of agricultural resources from continuing to fall into the vicious circle of the past, this paper begins to explore new alternative agricultural models. In addition, this paper expounds the concepts of ecological compensation, agricultural versatility, ecological service function and value involved in this paper. From a long-term perspective, the necessary route for the development of modern agriculture is sustainable and emphasises the development of multiple functions of agriculture. Ultimately, this technique applies sustainable development with agricultural ecological protecting the environment research, uses the region as an example to analyses agricultural economic and environmentally sustainable development, analyses the problems of farm ecological environmental protection using real-life case studies, and recommends corresponding defensive measures to serve as a model for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU countries declared the strategic goal to achieve energy independence and increase energy efficiency. In this case, EU countries have provided a vast range of incentives, mechanisms, and directives to promote energy efficiency. Ukraine as a potential candidate should provide a convergent policy with EU countries to increase energy efficiency. The paper aims to estimate energy efficiency based on the revealed convergent and divergent determinants of energy policies among the EU and Ukraine. The data are compiled from the World Energy Statistics Yearbook, the European Statistical Office, the International Energy Agency, SolAbility agencies, and State Statistics Service of Ukraine. The study applies σ- i β-convergence theory to determine the convergent and divergent determinants of the country's energy efficiency. The empirical results allow concluding that Ukraine has an average level in the integrated energy efficiency index of the national economy, and the highest value of this index was in 2008. The highest values of energy efficiency were in Sweden and Denmark among EU countries. Besides, the findings confirm that the Ukrainian government should pay attention to divergent determinants (expenditure for environmental protection, pricing for energy resources, etc.) to improve the country's energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmer's Ecological culture is a social ideology, human spirit and social system guided by ecological values; in a broad sense, it is a new way of life for human beings, in which man and nature develop harmoniously. Ecological art design means that, in the process of environmental art design, designers take environmental protection and reducing pollution and waste as their design guiding principles, and take into account the fit between their design results and external nature to avoid excessive transformation and a sense of incongruity, and trying to make their works to achieve the effect of natural integration. This paper introduces the constituent elements and evaluation system of art design of rural environment, conducts the process analysis of art design of rural environment from the perspective of ecological culture, performs the ecological description and visual form analysis of art design of rural environment, proposes the realizing pathways for art design of rural environment from the perspective of ecological culture, expounds the expression methods and process modules of ecological art design of rural environment, and finally takes a village in Yuci District, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, Central China as an example, to carry out a case application and its result analysis. The research results show that the art design of rural environment based on the principle of ecological culture can clarify the specific requirements of landscape optimization, arrange the natural balance and social development needs in the configuration of geographical space, and form a landscape network system that maintains the overall natural environment. This in turn expands the concept of rural landscape and environment to a wider field, integrating natural resource protection, rural land use and landscape planning in the entire region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to deepen understanding of the relationship between sustainable development, localisation and the purchase of goods and services from the informal economy. This has not before been investigated. To do so, it reports a survey of 1,209 respondents conducted during October-December 2021 in Romania, a country with one of the largest informal economies in the European Union. The findings reveal a link between consumers' motives to purchase informal goods and services and the pursuit of sustainable development through localisation. The analysis shows that there is no purely sustainability-driven consumer in the informal economy, but this rationale is prevalent as one of several motives for a large proportion of consumers purchasing goods and services from the informal economy, who do so explicitly for the purposes of environmental protection and localisation. The implications for theorising and tackling the informal economy are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brownfields are an important part of urban land resources. Strengthening the governance and redevelopment of brownfields is significant to environmental protection, high-quality urban development and sustainable development. However, due to the complexity and harmfulness of brownfield pollution, the hasty, untimely, and blind development can cause serious consequences. It is infeasible to pay more attention to development than governance or vice versa. In this paper, aiming at brownfield redevelopment evaluation, we introduced the Wuli-Shili-Renli (WSR) system methodology, an oriental system thought combining qualitative and quantitative analyses, comprehensively analyzed the influencing factors of brownfields from three dimensions of Wuli, Shili and Renli, and constructed the evaluation index system of brownfield redevelopment. To avoid much subjectivity in the evaluation process, we established the evaluation model of brownfield redevelopment using the catastrophe progression method. Taking the renovation project of Shanghai Xintiandi in 1999–2001 as a reference, the evaluation index system and evaluation model were applied to the renovation project of Wenjia Street in Qingyang District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China in 2022, and the results provided a good basis for the decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development implies the harmonization of economic and social development with the preservation of natural resources for future growth. Libraries, as centers of education and open access to information, play an important role in green literacy and the promotion of knowledge about a sustainable environment. Libraries are also drivers of change that can make a significant contribution to addressing sustainability issues and achieving the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through new services and activities. The Library at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture Osijek seeks to contribute to the achievement of planned goals for sustainable development related to education and availability of information, environmental protection and sustainable construction. The paper describes the educational and information resources that the library provides in material form and on online platforms, as well as activities that promote environmental awareness and user participation in green activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development implies the harmonization of economic and social development with the preservation of natural resources for future growth. Libraries, as centers of education and open access to information, play an important role in green literacy and the promotion of knowledge about a sustainable environment. Libraries are also drivers of change that can make a significant contribution to addressing sustainability issues and achieving the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through new services and activities. The Library at the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture Osijek seeks to contribute to the achievement of planned goals for sustainable development related to education and availability of information, environmental protection and sustainable construction. The paper describes the educational and information resources that the library provides in material form and on online platforms, as well as activities that promote environmental awareness and user participation in green activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental protection and sustainable development are now profoundly ingrained in the public consciousness in the modern era of the global green revolution. First, this paper uses an evolutionary game model to theoretically analyse the impact of environmental regulation and green finance on enterprises by dissecting the game behaviour between local governments, banks and enterprises. Then, we incorporate entrepreneurial spirit into the model to determine whether entrepreneurial spirit accelerates the achievement of green sustainability objectives. Environmental regulation and green finance are found to contribute substantially to the innovation of green technologies by local enterprises, while entrepreneurial spirit accelerates this process. Finally, we empirically test the findings based on a prefecture-level panel dataset from 2007 to 2020. We find that green finance has a positive impact in Central and Western cities of China, while Eastern cities are in greater need for government environmental regulation controls. For entrepreneurial spirit, the incentive effect of entrepreneurial spirit on the level of green technology innovation is more significant in Central and Western regions of China. This paper enriches the field of research on entrepreneurial spirit and regional green sustainable development by providing empirical evidence for the evaluation of environmental regulatory and green financing policy impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Carbon peaking and carbon neutralization" is an important measure to promote China's ecological and environmental protection and high-quality economic development, and the innovation and application of green technology are critical factors in achieving the "double carbon" goal. Based on the number of citations of green patents of listed enterprises in 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020, this paper uses GGDP to replace traditional GDP and calculate carbon emission intensity. Based on the relevant panel data at the provincial level, this paper constructs a spatial Durbin model to analyze the impact mechanism of whether the promotion and application of green technologies promote regional carbon emission reduction. The specific research results are as follows: (1) Through regression of the core explanatory variables with a one-stage lag, it is verified that the promotion and application of green technology has a significant positive promoting effect on regional carbon emission reduction, and there are significant spatial spillover effects and "learning by doing" effects. (2) In the part of heterogeneity test, the impact of green technology promotion and application on carbon emission reduction presents apparent regional heterogeneity and factor endowment heterogeneity. (3) The mediating effect test verifies the mediating effect of energy structure and industrial structure on the influence of green technology promotion and application on regional carbon emission reduction. (4) In the part moderating effect test, it is verified that marketization level and new infrastructure construction have a positive moderating effect in their influencing process, financial development, and government support will weaken the influence of green technology promotion and application on carbon emission reduction effect, and human capital level has a nonlinear regulating effect. The research conclusions of this paper provide necessary enlightenment for the coordination and unification of China's economic transition to innovation-driven and green and low-carbon development. • The impact of GTPA on reduction in China was analyzed from a macro perspective. • The GS and FDL plays a negative moderating role in the influence process. • The HCL plays a nonlinear moderating role in the influence process. • The GTPA can significantly reduce regional CEI except in Western China. • Regions with high EDL and high GTI have better carbon reduction effects of GTPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occupying the same crucial position as land resources, ecological resources originate from the marine system nourish various aspects of human welfare and the world economy. It is significant to apply efficient decision-making approaches, which assist with the achievements of sustainable development and environmental protection. This paper aims to review decision-making approaches in marine management and present a comprehensive bibliometric study. To achieve this goal, bibliometric analysis is used to analyze the current status and emerging trends in this field, including the cluster network, the collaboration network, and burst detection. The results show that the number of publications in this field has increased rapidly, and it has become an increasing interdisciplinary research subject. Besides, marine conservation is the largest clusterand the USA is the most productive country in marine management research and the marine policy and NOAA are the most productive journal and institution, respectively. Furthermore, "Diversity," "Management," and "Population" are the most influential keywords, and "People" and "Public participation" are the emerging trends in decision-making and marine management. Our work clarifies where we are now in terms of marine management and decision-making and how do they serve each other to achieve sustainable development. More importantly, some deep insights could be given that motivate researchers to learn the connections and collaborations between natural science and social study, which is our effort to deal with the social-ecological obstacle as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modern era societies adopt further restrictions imposed via climate or global changes and are engaged in a dynamic innovative set of dealings. The environment site is inhabited by numerous artists, who perform in a synergic manner by placing emphasis on and implementation of actual sustainable development. In this perspective, we value environmental resource-conservation efforts (ERCE) of all actors, populations, mass media and specialists. This paper aims to analyze how different energy firms accomplished sustainable development through environmental resource-conservation efforts. In this study we discover that pollution reduction is directly linked with both variables and also plays a mediating role. A cross-sectional data collection technique was used. For testing study hypotheses, we selected energy firms. Results showed that sustainable development of energy firms are forecasted by environmental resource-conservation efforts. The findings confirmed that ERCE are directly linked to pollution reduction, and pollution reduction is positively linked to sustainable development. The results also highlight how pollution reduction mediates between ERCE and sustainable development links. Energy firms play critical roles in pollution reduction. Current research contributes to prior literature knowledge through offering a sustainable development model by mutual influence of ERCE and pollution reduction. Accordingly, this study might be regarded as an encouragement for action and an authentic message for professionals in the energy firms to increase their sustainable development and give attention to their efforts on the optimal use of resources. This study can provide several critical practical policies and suggestions to management of energy firms for raising their sustainable development. Our research provides major implications through focusing on the role of ERCE and pollution reduction strategies and activities to enhance sustainable development of energy firms in a circular economy. A circular economy acts as a solution framework that helps in tackling global changes such as loss of biodiversity, pollution, climate challenges and recycling of waste. This study expands the prior literature knowledge through giving an empirical model for energy firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of nitrogen on environmental quality, greenhouse gas balances, ecosystem and biodiversity in China are of great concern given the magnitude of demand for food and energy. Comprehensive summaries of historic N flows and their critical threats and sustainable management are urgently needed. This paper initially reviews the historical trends of N flows in China and identifies the critical threats of N loss. Subsequently, it describes some recent success stories of N management, and finally indicates barriers to N pollution control. This review highlights three key points. Firstly, a steady increase of N input in China has led to a series of environmental problems via leaching and runoff, ammonia emissions and denitrification. Secondly, although great efforts to improve N management and N safety in China, further quantifications of N flows and analysis of their underlying mechanisms are needed to improve the understanding of the N cycle and pollution control. Finally, it proposes that the best available technologies combined with regulatory plans, laws, projects and policies should be implemented to overcome current barriers in N control and achieve a balance between the sustainable use of N resources and environmental conservation in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid development of soft computing technology, various models and comprehensive analysis methods are emerging one after another, and new theories and research results continue to emerge, showing great strength and development potential in actual theoretical research and engineering applications. This paper analyzes the air pollution detection and environmental responsibility of sports clubs based on RBF neural networks, constructs the corresponding neural network algorithm, and simulates and analyzes the data. In the process of simulation design, we adjust the weight and threshold of the network according to the error performance of the network to realize the functions required by the system. Different models were used to predict the concentration of air pollutants in typical cities. At the same time, a meta-analysis method was used to conduct a preliminary discussion on the impact of air pollutants on the health of the Chinese population, and some research results were obtained. In the past years, Chinese sports clubs have also built a solid social environmental protection system around the related environmental protection responsibilities of sports clubs. The research on green environmental monitoring has improved people's awareness of environmental responsibility and provided technical support for the green development of sports clubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Port logistics has developed rapidly, but due to late start, poor foundation, and other reasons, there are still some deficiencies in the development process; for example, some port logistics capacity is weak, and low efficiency has hindered the development of ports. Therefore, this paper puts forward the evaluation model of port logistics function based on entropy weight TOPSIS (Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution) method. Analyze the factors that affect the operation effect of port logistics, extract four key indicators, and construct index evaluation factors. Entropy weight method and TOPSIS method are used to calculate the weight of each factor so as to quantify the indicators, thus determining the scoring standard of each indicator, obtaining the comprehensive scoring standard, and realizing the port logistics function evaluation. The experimental results show that to realize the effective use of port resources and the protection of the port environment, it not only needs to conduct port logistics function evaluation but also take into account the efficiency of port logistics. It is of great significance to study the capacity and efficiency of port logistics for improving the core competitiveness of port enterprises and driving the sustainable economic development of surrounding areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of the research paper is to determine environmental sustainability and anthropogenic load in the territories of the united territorial community. Methodological basis of the research are general theoretical methods of scientific cognition, in particular dialectic method, system analysis, fundamental provisions of general economic theory. Methods of comparative and structural analysis, statistic groups were also used to analyze the level of ecologically sustainable development of regions; tabular method - for a visual representation of the dynamics of indicators. The methodology is aprobated on the territory of the Chernivtsi region. It is substantiated that the basis of sustainable development is the combination of economic, social and environmental sustainability. It has been established that the environmental factor is of the greatest concern at the moment. The reform of decentralization, which has been initiated, is partly directed at addressing environmental issues; at the same time, this process is long-term and requires significant resources. Determination of environmental sustainability and anthropogenic load on the territory of united territorial communities is important for ensuring sustainable development of rural territories. The research paper contains the calculations of the summarized values of regional environmental indicators of sustainable development and evaluates the natural and anthropogenic unsustainability of the environment. Ecologically safe, balanced and systematic development of territories is an integral part of spatial development of the region. It is the basis for solving the problem of harmonizing the goals of socio-economic development of certain territories with the principles of ecological safety of the country as a whole. Ensuring environmental sustainability and reducing anthropogenic load on the territory of the united territorial community may be due to the development of alternative energy and bioenergy. In the context of the study of this article, the development of environmental safety in a separate region is proposed as a systemic category that combines social, economic and environmental components, whose interaction involves the transition to environmentally sustainable production and consumer structures, increasing the efficiency of nature management, development of ecological infrastructure. The ecological dimension of sustainable development of rural areas is proposed to be determined using the following indicators: air quality, biodiversity, land resources, green zones, provision of the population with water, renewable energy sources, energy resources, atmospheric emissions, load on land resources, load on water resources, state of the system of drainage, radiation and ecological danger, generation of waste, waste management, participation of business entities in the formation of revenues from ecological dues, public participation in environmental protection, greenhouse gas emissions, satisfaction of the population with the state of the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this review is to present the current state of the research and applications of superconductivity and plasma technologies in the field of energy and environmental protection. An additional goal is to attract the attention of specialists, university students and readers interested in the state of energy and the natural environment and in how to protect them and ensure their sustainable development. Modern energy systems and the natural environment do not develop in a sustainable manner, thus providing future generations with access to energy that is generated from renewable sources and that does not degrade the natural environment. Most of the energy technologies used today are based on non-renewable sources. Power contained in fuel is irretrievably lost, and the quality of the energy is lowered. It is accompanied by the emissions of fossil fuel combustion products into the atmosphere, which pollutes the natural environment. Environmental problems, such as the production of gaseous and solid pollutants and their emission into the atmosphere, climate change, ozone depletion and acid rains, are discussed. For the problem of air pollution, the effects of combustion products in the form of carbon oxides, sulfur and nitrogen compounds are analyzed. The plasma and superconductivity phenomena, as well as their most important parameters, properties and classifications, are reviewed. In the case of atmospheric pressure plasma generation, basic information about technological gas composition, pressure, discharge type, electromagnetic field specification, electrode geometry, voltage supply systems, etc., are presented. For the phenomenon of superconductivity, attention is mainly paid to the interdependencies between Tc, magnetic flux density Bc and current density Jc parameters. Plasma technologies and superconductivity can offer innovative and energy-saving solutions for power engineering and environmental problems through decreasing the effects of energy production, conversion and distribution for the environment and by reductions in power losses and counteracting energy quality degradation. This paper presents an overview of the application of technologies using plasma and superconductivity phenomena in power engineering and in environmental protection processes. This review of plasma technologies, related to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and the transformation and valorization of industrial waste for applications in energy and environmental engineering, is carried out. In particular, the most plasma-based approaches for carbon oxides, sulfur and nitrogen compounds removal are discussed. The most common plasma reactors used in fuel reforming technologies, such as dielectric barrier discharge, microwave discharge and gliding-arc discharge, are described. The advantages of solid waste treatment using plasma arc techniques are introduced. Applications of superconductors for energy generation, conversion and transmission can be divided into two main groups with respect to the conducted current (DC and AC) and into three groups with respect to the employed property (zero resistivity, ideal magnetism/flux trapping and quench transition). Among the superconductivity applications of electrical machines, devices for improving energy quality and storage and high field generation are described. An example that combines the phenomena of hot plasma and superconductivity is thermonuclear fusion. It is a hope for solving the world's energy problems and for creating a virtually inexhaustible, sustainable and waste-free source of energy for many future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transfrontier Conservation Areas (TFCAs) are critical biodiversity areas for the conservation and sustainable use of biological and cultural resources while promoting regional peace, cooperation, and socio-economic development. Sustainable management of TFCAs is dependent on the availability of an eco-agriculture framework that promotes integrated management of conservation mosaics in terms of food production, environmental protection or the conservation of natural resources, and improved human livelihoods. As a developmental framework, eco-agriculture is significantly influenced by existing legal and governance structures at all levels; this study assessed the impact of existing legal and governance frameworks on eco-agriculture implementation in the Lubombo TFCA that cuts across the borders between Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa. The assessment used a mixed research method, including a document review, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Although the three countries have no eco-agriculture policies, biodiversity practices are directly or indirectly affected by some policies related to environmental protection, agriculture improvement, and rural development. The assessment found that South Africa has the most comprehensive policies related to eco-agriculture; Mozambican policies mainly focus on equity and involvement of disadvantaged social groups, while Eswatini is conspicuous for explicitly making it the responsibility of each citizen to protect and safeguard the environment. The protection of conservation areas is critical to preserving natural habitats and ensuring the continued provision of ecosystem services. The lack of transboundary governance structures results in the Lubombo TFCA existing as a treaty on paper, as there are no clear processes for transboundary cooperation and collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review proposes a performance evaluation system of low-carbon economic development based on multiobjective analysis in low-carbon environment. This is a modeling method combining super efficiency and relaxation-based measurement model (super-SBM model), which can effectively measure green innovation efficiency with unexpected outputs and traditional innovation efficiency without unexpected outputs. Using the Malmquist–Luenberger index method to dynamically analyze the efficiency of green innovation, a multiobjective model is obtained, including economic scheduling target considering wind power cost and low-carbon scheduling target considering carbon trading. The efficiency of green innovation considering unexpected output is obviously lower than that of traditional innovation without considering unexpected output. This phenomenon is more pronounced in some areas of central and western China. Technical efficiency improves the innovation level of environmental protection economy in China and the impact of technological progress is greater than that of technical efficiency. In this review, the output super SBM model is used to study the development of China's low-carbon industry, and the correlation between the prediction model and the performance change of low-carbon economic development is analyzed. The Malmquist–Luenberger (ML) index of environmental protection product development efficiency in China is not less than 1. Due to the improvement of the efficiency of scientific and technological development, the combination of the two will eventually lead to the improvement of the development of green products and environmental economic products in China. Combining with the empirical analysis, this paper puts forward some methods to promote the low-carbon economy in the economic zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]