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The pulp and paper industry accounts for approximately 5% of total industrial energy consumption and contributes 2% of direct carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from industries. World paper and paperboard demand and production are increasing significantly, leading to an increase in this sector's energy use and CO 2 emissions. Although current studies identify a wide range of energy-efficiency technologies that have already been commercialized for the pulp and paper industry, information is limited or scattered regarding new energy-efficiency technologies that are not yet fully commercialized. Development of emerging or advanced energy-efficiency technologies and their deployment in the market will be crucial for this industry's mid- and long-term energy saving and climate change mitigation strategies. This paper compiles available information on energy savings, environmental and other benefits, costs, and commercialization status for 25 emerging technologies to reduce the energy use and CO 2 emissions. The purpose is to provide a well-structured comprehensive review on these emerging energy-efficiency technologies for engineers, researchers, investors, policy makers, pulp and/or paper companies, and other interested parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disposable paper cups comprise typical single-use plastic items, as they are lined internally with a thin plastic coating for waterproofing. They are consumed at a staggering rate worldwide, with the UK alone consuming around 7 million cups daily, thus annually producing around 30,000 tonnes of paper cup waste. Contrary to popular belief, less than 1 in 400 paper cups is currently recycled in the UK, which is in stark contrast to the waste hierarchy and the European Commission's ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan. Paper cups typically end up in landfill sites or even improperly disposed of, contributing to (micro)plastic waste and potentially polluting the world's oceans. The implications of the latter are not fully known yet and cannot be quantified by existing life cycle impact assessment methods. By employing the life cycle assessment methodology, UK's annual carbon footprint from paper cup consumption was found to be 75 kt of carbon dioxide equivalents, which is similar to that of manufacturing 11,500 mid-size passenger cars. Globally, their environmental footprint was found to be comparable to that of some 1.5 M average European inhabitants, indicating the nature and extent of the single-use plastics problem, which paper cups are just a typical example of. Paper cup recycling could reduce this environmental footprint by up to 40%, whereas switching to reusable cups appears to be more environmentally sustainable, achieving a threefold reduction in carbon emissions, which at global scale is more than twice Malta's annual carbon footprint. Results indicate that consumerism along with small daily choices, such as using reusable cups or bags instead of their disposable counterparts, could play a huge role in climate change. At policy level, no concrete measures to curb the superfluous consumption of paper cups, as well as of other single-use plastic items that are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, have materialised. Furthermore, it appears that decision- and policy-makers tend to step in to curtail wasteful and polluting practices only when environmental problems have started to generate widespread concern, instead of undertaking preventative policy measures. Image 1 • The environmental sustainability of disposable paper cups was examined. • 75 kt CO 2eq are emitted annually in the UK and 7.5 Mt CO 2eq globally. • Switching to reusable cups axes carbon emissions by threefold. • Robust LCIA methods should be introduced to account for (micro)plastic pollution. • Existing policy on single use plastics appears to be too little too late. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Product service systems (PSS) are an example of a novel business model billed as having the potential to significantly reduce the environmental burdens of production and consumption processes. However, despite widespread interest in PSS, consensus regarding their actual environmental impacts, particularly with regard to salient issues such as global warming, is lacking. Hence this paper explores existing research to investigate the state of the art regarding the climatic impacts of PSS, alongside the set of factors that influence climatic impacts. The paper comprises a systematic review of peer-reviewed academic literature, quantifying the extent to which different types of PSS have the capacity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across multiple product categories. Our study shows that significant reductions in climatic emissions are possible, but PSS are in many cases associated with more modest reductions and, in some cases, increased emissions. Further, we observe no clear differences in climatic impacts according to the type of PSS model that is deployed. Rather, differences in climatic impact are influenced by factors such as production and design alongside use-phase impacts and contextual factors such as transportation and the energy mix. The study argues that further research is needed to establish a more robust baseline upon which to draw conclusions regarding the sources of climatic impacts, and outlines fruitful ways for companies to tackle the complexities of climatic emissions that are beyond their control. • In some cases, product service systems can reduce climatic impacts by up to 80%. • In other cases, climatic impacts increase compared to traditional product sales. • Climatic impacts are influenced by use intensity, transportation and production. • Other contextual factors such as the energy mix play a role. • More quantitative assessments are needed with less reliance on estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current global landscape, food loss and waste (FLW) persist as a significant challenge, accounting for one-third of global food production and directly impacting 700 million individuals. Beyond its social ramifications, FLW incurs substantial economic costs and raises environmental and ethical concerns. To address this issue, our paper presents a comprehensive systematic overview within operations management, offering a framework that delineates diverse supply chain types, defines FLW, examines its multifaceted impacts, and outlines reduction strategies. Emphasizing a holistic perspective, we utilize various case study approaches to shed light on the global implications of FLW, aiming to contribute to ongoing research endeavors. In exploring the depth of FLW, we build upon two foundational premises: the actions taken by rational actors towards FLW reduction hinge on the balance between benefits and costs, guiding policy formulation. Effective policies necessitate a thorough understanding of synergies, potential unintended consequences and trade-offs. The absence of comprehensive information on FLW leads to both excessive and insufficient rates of FLW. Justifying public intervention lies in its potential to enhance food security, efficiency, and environmental sustainability, albeit quantifying these effects poses challenges. Our overview paper identifies key challenges in FLW policies, encompassing measurement, quantification, interdependencies within the and trade-offs, and value chain in food policy objectives. Despite these challenges, the paper guides the enhancement of loss measurement for targeted interventions, emphasizing investments in policies that foster a conducive business environment and government-led initiatives in awareness and incentive modification. The study also sheds light on crucial gaps in knowledge, including data deficiencies and variability in estimates, calling for standardized data collection methodologies and targeted research initiatives. By addressing these gaps and emphasizing collaborative efforts, this research contributes to a nuanced understanding of FLW, advocating for improved strategies to tackle this multifaceted issue. • Comprehensive Ops Framework: Presents systematic framework for FLW reduction in supply chains. • Multifaceted FLW Impacts: Explores economic, environmental, and social impacts. • Urgent Data Gaps: Emphasizes need for current data on FLW, especially in BRICS nations. • Culture-Specific Solutions: Highlights importance of tailored innovations for waste reduction. • Climate Nexus and Renewable Energy Integration: Explores FLW, climate change, and renewable energy synergy for sustainable, low-carbon paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the technological responses to concern about the healthiness and sustainability of red meat consumption as well as growing global food insecurity has been the development of plant-based meats. While still niche industries, plant-based meats are increasing in diversity and visibility and are often accompanied by scientific claims about their potential contribution to sustainability, health and nutrition. In this paper we analyse these claims from the perspective of critical metrology, looking not only at the state of knowledge about plant- and animal-based beef but also how knowledge is being produced. Such research is vital in understanding not only what is known about a topic but also the limitations of that knowledge in terms of influences and gaps, to shape how research can be done better. The research is based on a scoping review of scientific papers that compare the sustainability and nutritional properties of plant- and animal-based beef, with a particular focus on the Australian context. Our analysis shows that there are some points of consensus, such as plant-based beef having lower greenhouse gas emissions than animal-based beef and that plant-based burgers have lower total fat and saturated fat than animal-based burgers. However, we also find points of difference due to variability in production systems, products and approaches to measurement. We discuss how a metrological regime is forming that bears the imprint and interests of the industries involved, influencing the metrics and geographies that are studied and creating critical absences in understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil erosion changes become more unclear in the future due to climate change and increased human activity. However, the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the driving effects of key factors on soil erosion remains inadequately understood on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains (NSTM). In this paper, the spatiotemporal evolution of soil erosion on the NSTM was evaluated in the historical period (2000–2015) by the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) model. Subsequently, the FLUS-CMIP6-RUSLE model was employed to predict soil erosion in the future period (2030–2050). Then, the GTWR model was used to dissect the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the driving effects of precipitation and vegetation. The results indicated that soil erosion on the NSTM fluctuated from 2000 to 2015, increasing by 1.77 t ha −1 yr −1. Soil erosion areas mainly occurred in Changji City, Fukang City, Hutubi County, Mulei County, Qitai County, and Turpan City. The soil erosion modulus in 2030, 2040, and 2050 under different climate scenarios will be 26.56,28.83, and 37.49 t ha −1 yr −1, respectively. The spatial pattern of soil erosion is similar to the historical period. Precipitation was the main factor intensifying soil erosion in the eastern and western counties from 2000 to 2020, while the soil erosion change in central counties was affected by vegetation. In the future, soil erosion change in the counties (i.e., Karamay, Yili, Tacheng, Shihezi, Manas, Qitai, and Mulei) will be driven by precipitation. The vegetation will be the main driver of soil erosion change in central and eastern counties (i.e., Urumqi, Turpan, Fukang City, Jimsar County, and Changji City). This study firstly attempts to explore the spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the driving effects of precipitation and vegetation using Spatial-Temporal Geographically Weighted Regression (GTWR) in urban agglomerations of NSTM. It is meaningful to explore erosion-prone regions and to implement rational soil conservation measures in the study region and similar regions in the world. [Display omitted] • A coupled model was constructed to predict soil erosion for future scenarios on NSTM. • The spatiotemporal heterogeneity in effects of precipitation and vegetation were explored using GTWR. • Precipitation exacerbated soil erosion in eastern and western counties (2000 - 2020); central counties more by vegetation. • Vegetation to be key factor driving soil erosion change in Turpan; Wujiaqv and Mulei by precipitation (2030 - 2050). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular actions cannot be considered sustainable if their financial benefits are not demonstrated. While the environmental benefits of the circular economy have been widely studied, sustainable development from a financial point of view has been much less studied. In this paper we assess the financial benefits of circular innovations applied in the fashion industry that have been previously assessed as sustainable using the Life Cycle Assessment. The focus is on two innovative processes such as salt recovery and tannin baths reuse that reuse water, chemicals and raw materials in an Italian small company operating in the tanning industry. A cost benefit analysis was carried to evaluate the net contribution of these actions to the operating margin. Then we model a forward-looking cash flow projection in order to determine the fundamental value of circular investments. Through these practices, the company achieved an increase in operating profitability above 30% and the 10-year value of the salt recovery is 159,061.40 euros, while the reused tanning water equals just over one million euros. The results show unexpected and strong financial benefits that can leverage similar initiatives that would advance resource equity and finally promote a real and convenient industrial dedication to environmental guardianship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radiative cooling coating technology is gaining increasing attention in the context of mitigating urban heat island and tackling global climate change. This paper is concerned with the development of an inorganic geopolymer-based radiative cooling coating using red mud, incorporating varying sizes of TiO 2 and hollow glass beads. The developed colored coating demonstrates its radiative cooling capability in reducing the surface temperature by harnessing the potential of red mud. The physico-chemical properties, surface morphology, and element distribution of the coating were characterized by XRD, FTIR, TG-DAT, SEM and EDS. The coating exhibited lower UV (0.0844) and visible reflectance (0.5275) but high NIR reflectance (0.7536), as well as high infrared emissivity of 0.9455, enabling a red color with a CIE value of L* = 74.56, a* = 9.55, and b* = 11.98, and a maximum temperature reduction of 7.3 °C under the climate of Hong Kong. Additionally, the skid resistance, abrasive resistance and adhesion strength of the proposed coating could meet the requirements of standards, indicating a great potential for footway applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon technology has become the focus of addressing global climate challenges but is facing the supply restriction of critical high-tech metals. Recycling has become a powerful measure to solve this issue. In the paper, a comprehensive recycling potential index (RPI) is constructed to evaluate the recycling potential of high-tech metals for low-carbon energy technologies in China from 2020 to 2050, and development strategies are proposed based on the evaluation results. The results indicate that the future trends of recycling potential show four evolution modes – either reaching or rapidly rising to a high level, increasing to the middle and middle-high level, unsteadily staying at the low and middle-low level, or remaining at a low and continuously decreasing level. According to the evolution trend, different strategies, including key development, reserves, digestion, and transfer, should be adopted in different stages. Co, Li, Dy, Nd, Tb, and Eu should be the focus of technology, funds and policy from both the government and enterprises due to their high recycling potential in the long term. Moreover, measures should be taken to encourage recycling and mitigate the supply risk of high-tech metals for low-carbon energy technologies, including tracking the development of low-carbon energy technologies, adjusting the list of critical high-tech metals, promoting recycling technology, and exploring substitute resources. [Display omitted] • A comprehensive recycling potential index is constructed to evaluate the recycling potential of high-tech metals. • The future trends of recycling potential of high-tech metals show four evolution modes. • Strategies like key development, reserves, digestion, and transfer should be adopted in different stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pastureland maintenance is seen as a land-based measure to reduce dependency on feed concentrates and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock production in the EU, while providing other ecosystems services. This paper assesses potential market-mediated impacts, including global Land Use Change (LUC) and GHG emissions, from increased subsidies to pasture-based livestock production in the EU. A tax recycling strategy (TRS) is simulated against a baseline up to 2030 under the shared socioeconomic pathway 2 (SSP2). This implies a budget-neutral increase in the level of pasture subsidies in individual Member States, as land subsidies for other cropping activities decrease. We employ the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model GTAP in its recursive-dynamic version, GTAP-RDEM, extended with the Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) database FABIO to disaggregate agri-food sectors from 21 to 31. This approach allows considering price- and income-dependent feedbacks when assessing long-run changes in the global economy, improving the sectoral resolution relative to GTAP v10. The policy increases pastureland areas and cattle production in almost all EU Member States, whereas cropland and crop production decrease, causing significant changes across EU agri-food markets. Crop prices increase, leading to the reduced output of intensive animal production sectors, mainly pig and poultry. Cropland areas decrease and most EU countries increase imports of grain, oilseeds, and cakes, essentially soybean cake from Brazil and North America. While GHG emissions decrease in those EU countries where pasturelands expand mainly at the cost of croplands, GHG emissions increase in those countries where pastureland expansion comes with forest loss. As a result, net GHG emissions increase in the EU-27 in 2030 (+2.49 Mt CO 2 -eq). Emissions from LUC in major non-EU grain- and oilseed-exporting countries increase, e.g., by 102.52 Mt CO 2 -eq in Brazil and by 129.17 Mt CO 2 -eq in North America. The simulated policy shows that promoting extensive livestock per se does not meet the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy and the EU Green Deal. The TRS should be complemented with policies to foster crop diversification and promote the use of domestic feed sources (e.g., legumes) to effectively ensure feed self-sufficiency and that extensive cattle production in the EU does not lead to deforestation in carbon-rich countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change led an increase in the frequency of severe droughts, the effects of which are exacerbated by a lack of water storage. Despite increasing research on global-scale total water storage (TWS) change and drought prediction, basin-scale long-term hydrological drought, TWS change, and El Nino–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influence in East Africa (EA) remain unexplored. In this paper, we used multiple approaches, of ensemble machine learning (ML) and weighted averaging, to conduct a basin-scale exploratory analysis of future hydrological drought and TWS change for the period 2025–2099. Climate change will affect future hydrological conditions in the basins, with maximum severity values of −90.3, −726.6, and −2567.7 Gt in the Tana, Turkana, and Victoria basins, respectively, under RCP6.0. Similarly, we found maximum severities of −187.5 and −277.7 Gt in the Abaya-Chamo and Tanganyika basins, respectively, under RCP 2.6. The most severe El Nino drought and exceptional La Nina conditions in the basins were found under both RCP scenarios. To ensure future water security in EA, sustainable water resource management strategies that can mitigate the impacts of extreme climate events in the future are urgently needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed not only attitudes and habits related to health care but also encompassed all other spheres even those related to environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour. All the people spending the majority of their time at home had additional opportunities to change their habits, particularly those related to environmental aspects. Thus, the aim of this paper was to examine the Covid-19 contribution to the changes in the environmental, climate change and pandemic concerns during the period of the second wave and the slowdown of the Covid-19 pandemic before the other crises such as the energy crisis and inflation began. Furthermore, in this paper, the changes in resource-saving and waste-sorting behaviour and its determinants were analysed. The results revealed that during the pandemic the environmental and climate change concern increased significantly, and people also declared that the pandemic has encouraged them to sort waste and save natural resources more. Meanwhile, the concern about the Covid-19 pandemic decreased due to successful vaccination, other management tools for this illness and the emerging of another crisis. After analysing the main factors of changes in resource-saving and waste-sorting behaviour, we found that the changes in environmental concern influenced these behaviours the most. Changes in the Covid-19 pandemic concern also statistically significantly encouraged people to change resource-saving and waste-sorting behaviour. The environmental risk during the Covid-19 pandemic, significantly impacted the changes in resource-saving behaviour only. Meanwhile, the changes in climate change concern insignificantly influenced both pro-environmental behaviours. Therefore, this study reveals that the Covid-19 pandemic has taught people not only to care about the environment more but to carry out pro-environmental behaviour as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of electric vehicles (EVs) lies in the fact that they are seen as a key solution to the climate change problem. In the last decade, this topic has received significant interest from the scientific community, contributing to publications in different areas. However, the existing literature is fragmented, and efforts have not been made to categorize and analyze it from a freight logistics perspective. This work aims to fill this gap by presenting a systematic literature review (SLR) of the potential impacts of EVs on sustainable road-freight transport operations, including in urban areas. We reviewed 237 peer-reviewed articles for bibliometric and literature classification analysis, whereby 119 articles were subsequently studied for content analysis and research gaps related to sustainability approaches. The bibliometric analysis showed significant growth in the body of research in the past two years, reflected in the number of journal papers, authors, and references. In the literature and keywords analysis, we identified five main categories and research areas: economic and competitive aspects, city logistics, environmental sustainability, vehicle fleet operations, and infrastructure and technology. In addition, this paper revealed eight key research gaps for future research: multimodal integration, long-haul and heavy-duty truck approaches, emerging economies, business models, social factors, charging infrastructure inclusion, and fleet replacement policies. These findings can enlighten researchers and practitioners toward sustainable research and real-life applications of electromobility in freight logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are frequently the most relevant element of a company's total emissions since they account for more than eighty percent. However, they are difficult to calculate since many stakeholders in the value chain are involved and emission data are usually not shared among them. Sustainable finance could provide a link to this discussion by providing data, digital data infrastructures and evaluation instruments. However, the existing research today is either limited to analyzing the levels of scope 3 emissions or to calculating them based on different measurement methods. How to implement scope 3 emissions reporting by solving the data sharing challenge remains mainly unexplored. This paper aims to close this gap by developing an approach, which chooses sustainable finance as a connecting element that (1) combines different calculation methods, (2) integrates cross-value chain data from different stakeholders and (3) combines primary and secondary data in a single model. The approach was developed in a prototype that uses real world data from collaboration with the UN-convened Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance to evaluate its applicability. The findings of the prototype indicate that a digital data infrastructure can improve the calculation of scope 3 GHG emissions by improving data availability, accessibility and reliability and at the same time shows that the calculations are only as good as the data, which fuels this calculation. With this, the paper contributes to the theoretical and practical discussion about scope 3 GHG emission data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate crisis is recognized as one of the world's most serious concerns, posing a threat to environmental, social, and economic growth. However, previous work has failed to address the dynamic effects through which economic growth may affect green growth and climate crisis. In this research, we take a closer look at the impact of carbon emissions, eco-innovation adoption, and international collaboration on economic growth and the influence of economic growth on green growth. This paper used the generalized method of moments (GMM) for 54 African countries from 2010 to 2019, allied with an imbalanced panel of 540 observations. This paper finds a positive relationship between carbon emissions, eco-innovation international cooperation, and economic growth with p-values lower than 0.047. Our study discovers economic growth's robust and positive impact on green growth with a p-value of 0.009. This research finds a three-pronged mediating effect of economic growth between its driving factors and green growth. Lastly, this paper furnishes new visions into the argument over economic growth versus green growth. It informs policymakers of the need to pay attention to the growing effect of eco-innovation driving factors on attaining sustainable and greener growth and climate crisis mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present situation, renewable energy has become a vital source to mitigate energy crises and environmental threats. In order to ensure that women's contributions, knowledge and opinions represent a significant portion of the expanding energy sector, it is crucial to approach the development of renewable energy from a gender perspective. Bibliometric analysis was performed to identify prior research on two primary terms, "Gender" and "Renewable Energy", from 1995 to 2022. Identifying the most influential countries, authors, publications, journals, and co-occurrence of keywords helps to understand the evaluation and trends of the research through network visualisations by bibliometric approach. This paper presents a comprehensive bibliometric review of the influence of gender on renewable energy. The result of this paper gives details picture of the gender impact on renewable energy during the period from 1995 to 2022. The paper centred on bibliometric and cluster analysis based on the two most important databases, Web of Science and Scopus. The study involved utilising various bibliometric tools, including R Studio, VOSviewer, and Biblioshiny. The study revealed an increase in publications and citations during the third period since 2017, after the United Nations set the target of the Sustainable Development Goal. Most influential countries and productive authors belong to China, the United States of America, and the United Kingdom. Energy Research and Social Science are predominated in publications on the research topic. In addition, the co-occurrence of keywords found major keywords related to this topic, such as renewable energy, gender, women, knowledge, sustainability, climate change and sustainable development. Finally, the study observed a huge research gap because developing nations are more affected by the lack of gender-influencing policies on the growth of renewable energy. Thus, the study provides a comprehensive overview of research in this field that can help researchers and stakeholders identify potential ways for future research in gender considerations on renewable energy access by formulating effective policies to change society and reach the Sustainable Development Goals. • Gender has become a focal point of interest within the renewable energy sector. • Using network visualisation, bibliometric analysis examines research trends by keyword occurrence and country collaborations. • Publication, citation, journal, and authorship contribution trends are to be analysed. • The research growth across different periods was discussed for potential future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract With fast development and urbanization, Chinese cities are facing several challenges including issues of environmental pollution, climate change, resource depletion and landfills shortage. Waste recycling is one effective way to respond these challenges. Under such a situation, this paper aims to evaluate energy saving and carbon reduction potential of recycling wastes by taking Shanghai, the biggest city in China, as a case study. Results show that 8.7 Mt standard coal (tce) and 16.81 Mt CO 2 could be reduced under current recycling system in Shanghai. And recycling of waste steel and nonferrous metals were the two dominant contributors, accounting for about 44% and 42% of energy saving, and 60% and 33% of CO 2 reduction, respectively. If the recycling rates of main recyclable wastes were improved to 100%, additional 6.44 Mt energy and 10.02 Mt CO 2 could be further saved, mainly from recycling waste glass, waste plastic and waste metals. Adoption of RPF (Refuse Plastic & paper Fuel) could further contribute to 1.24 Mt energy saving and 2.67 Mt CO 2 reduction. Finally, policy implications on establishing a mature recycling system and promoting RPF technologies are discussed, in which the potential on reducing total energy consumption and CO 2 emission of Shanghai can reach 6.6% and 4.9%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming has aroused the attention all over the world, because not only can it directly damage the living environment, but it can also impact on the social and economic development, of a region in an obvious and far-reaching way. In this paper, we builded a trans-log production function model incorporating variables, such as rainfall, labor force, technology and temperature to simulate how climate changes impacted on the regional economics. Time series data of the domestic economy of Nanjing, a city in the southeast China, between 1996 and 2017, were used to verify the production theory of trans-log production frontier. The results showed that: with the rainfall increased and the temperature declined, the climate impact on the economy and the absolute value of the output elasticity of the frontier diminished. In addtion, the climate change was also positively related to the capital investment. The larger variation of temperature negatively impacted on the economic development. • This paper builds a trans-log production function model. • Time series data are used to verify the production theory of trans-log production frontiers. • Analyzing the effect of climate change on the regional economy. • The larger variation of temperature negatively impacted on the economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analysed and summarised the significant research outputs published on the environmental impact assessment of mining and mineral processing industries through life cycle assessment. The paper presents valuable insights in identifying the gaps, where should the focus be in the mining and mineral processing industries for a sustainable future. Mining and mineral processing industries have been the key focus of research in many countries due to its increasing sustainability concerns that affect global warming and climate change. Use of heavy equipment that consumes electrical energy, mechanical energy, and an enormous amount of process heat is a key contributor to the overall impacts in the industry. Due to the use of heavy equipment and associated energy consumption, these industrial sectors contribute notably to global warming, human health, ecosystems, and resources. Among the various environmental impact assessment tools which are widely used to identify sustainability indicators, life cycle assessment (LCA) is a well-justified approach among the practitioners and researchers. Though state of the art technological tools and resources are being used now a days, there is still a research gap in identifying the key mining processes which need to be the focus of attention. Renewable energy integration in the mineral processing sector and process heating from green energy sources is becoming the emergent field of research. The review results reveal, the assessment indicators in human health and ecosystems are key factors that are mostly missing in the previous studies which are crucial for people or community living nearby mining area. This review paper identifies the research gaps to the existing literature that can form the base for future research direction in the field of LCA and sustainable energy integration in mining and mineral processing industries. • A review based on life cycle assessment studies in mining and mineral processing. • 16 metal mining industries are reviewed. • Summarised key factors of environmental effects using LCA. • Future research directions are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of universities in climate change education (CCE) is of great importance if the scientific, social, environmental and political challenges the world faces are to be met. Future leaders must make decisions from an informed position and the public will need to embed climate change mitigation tools into their work and private life. It is therefore essential to understand the range of CCE strategies being taken globally by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and to explore and analyse the ways that HEIs could better address this challenge. Consistent with this research need, this paper offers an analysis of the extent to which HEIs in 45 countries approach CCE and provides a conceptual framework for exploring how HEIs are embedding CCE into their curricula. In addition to the specialist approach (where students choose to study a degree to become experts in climate change adaptation and mitigation tools), the CCE framework developed identifies and highlights three other approaches HEIs can deploy to embed CCE: Piggybacking, mainstreaming and connecting (transdisciplinary). Using data gathered in an explorative international survey involving participants working across academic and senior management, this paper illustrates the different approaches taken and analyses practical examples of current CCE practice from across the world. Responses from 212 university staff from 45 countries indicated that CCE was highly variable – no clear pattern was identified at the country level, with CCE approaches varying significantly, even within individual HEIs. This plurality highlights the wide range of ideas and examples being shared and used by institutions in very different countries and contexts, and underlines the importance of the independence and autonomy of HEIs so that they can choose the right CCE approaches for them. To highlight the breadth and variety of approaches that were uncovered by our survey, the paper offers a range of examples illustrating how climate change education may be embedded in a higher education context, some of which could be replicated in HEIs across the world. The conceptualisation of CCE and the examples given in this paper are valuable for anyone who is thinking about strategies for embedding more climate education in the higher education curriculum. • The emphasis to climate change at universities programmes is limited at present. • Possibilities for implementation of climate change in the curriculum are overseen. • A conceptual framework to describe climate change at universities was developed. • Practical examples show how it can be incorporated at universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changes in energy use and energy-mix are important in ensuring the implementation of the sustainability goals, especially those related to the climate change. Even though there have been attempts to analyse the energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emission in the European Union, there is still a lack of research that considers structural change, fossil energy consumption, and energy-mix simultaneously. In this context, the present paper addresses the growth in energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the European Union (EU) agriculture. The index decomposition analysis based on the logarithmic mean Divisia index is implemented over the period of 2004–2021. The change in the GHG intensity at the EU level is factorized with respect to the structural effect and those related to the energy intensity, the share of the fossil energy, and carbon factor for the fossil energy. The results suggest that a decline in the energy intensity appeared as the main driver pushing the energy-related GHG emission intensity down in the EU agriculture. This calls for further actions directed towards the increase of the use of renewables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the negative consequences of climate change have gradually spread to the real economy sector, which affects enterprise output, increases enterprise costs, and thus inhibits the sustainable development of enterprises. Still, it is not clear whether corporate resource misallocation will reinforce the effect. Therefore, using the data of A-share listed companies in 2011–2021, this paper investigates the impact of climate change on corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. According to empirical results, climate change significantly inhibits corporate ESG performance. It also found that continuously eliminating internal and external resource misallocation helps alleviate the adverse effects of climate change on ESG performance. Furthermore, compared with enterprises in non-resource-based cities, climate change will significantly improve corporate ESG performance in resource-based cities, indicating that the adaptive behavior caused by climate change has partially broken the resource curse phenomenon. Additionally, mature and large-scale enterprises mitigate the negative effects better, and external pressure from the public environmental and analysts' attention can motivate companies to improve their ESG performance. The research enriches the research on the impact of climate change on corporate ESG performance and provides a reference basis for enterprises to cope with climate risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, Saudi Arabia's anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 810 million tons of CO 2 e. The country has pledged to cut its emissions by 278 million tons of CO 2 e per year by 2030. This paper contributes a modeling view on the climate-related effects of various energy policies on the Saudi energy system. We use an energy system model designed to represent seven sectors in the Saudi economy. In addition to a baseline, which entails the continuation of current domestic policies, we look at a scenario that incorporates some of the plans announced by the Saudi government. We also examine the baseline scenario with a cap on total CO 2 emissions equal to those exhibited with the announced plans. The model then makes the necessary decisions to abate CO 2. We find that the energy system contributes 130 million tons of CO 2 e to the nationally determined contribution amount in 2030. Also, a non-prescriptive scenario that caps energy-system CO 2 emissions produces the same emissions reductions as the announced plans while lowering the present cost by 2030 by $70 billion. The corresponding implicit marginal abatement cost of CO 2 approaches 35 $/tonCO 2 by 2045. This cost would displace around half of crude and fuel oil use in the Saudi energy system. • Saudi Arabia plans to cut annual greenhouse gas emissions by 278 million tonsCO 2 e. • We use a multi-sector model built from the ground up for Saudi Arabia. • The energy system can contribute 130 million tons of CO 2 e in reductions in 2030. • We find a scenario that achieves GHG abatement at a lower cost than official plans. • The marginal value attributed to CO 2 approaches 35 $ per tonCO 2 by 2045. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy crisis caused by climate change is the most significant challenge of the 21st century. Single-objective and multi-objective optimization studies for buildings often only consider the building itself, without considering the impacts of climate change. However, in the future, energy-efficient design and appropriate operating parameters will be crucial considerations in the face of global climate change. This paper aims to discuss the impact of climate change in the humid-hot region over the past 60 years on the energy consumption of office buildings and propose countermeasures. Firstly, the meteorological data of Guangzhou from 1960 to 2020 is statistically analyzed, and four typical meteorological years and corresponding air conditioning design days are established. Secondly, Energyplus is used to simulate the building's energy consumption, and the energy consumption factors are analyzed for sensitivity using jEplus. Finally, a multi-objective optimization is performed using jEPlus + EA with the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II). The results found that climate change led to a significant increase in the duration of high outdoor temperatures during summer. Specifically, the daily dry-bulb temperature for air conditioning design increased by 0.4–0.7 °C, and due to climate change, the energy consumption of the office building increased by about 4.6 %. The main factor affecting the cooling energy consumption in summer was the indoor cooling set point (8.29%–30%), infiltration air volume (1.0%–8.6%), fresh air volume (3.2%–16.06%), the glazing solar transmission rate (1.25%–9.0%), building orientation (0%–1.43%), and relatively small influence of envelope insulation performance. The operation scheme determined by multi-objective optimization can reduce the cooling energy consumption of the building by 10.6%–16.8%, which can mitigate the rise in energy consumption resulting from climate change to a greater extent. [Display omitted] • Discuss the impact of climate change over the past 60 years on the energy consumption of office buildings. • There was a significant increase in the duration of high outdoor temperatures during the summer. • Multi-objective optimization is performed using jEPlus + EA. • Climate change caused energy consumption to increase by about 4.6 %. • Optimal solutions can reduce the cooling energy consumption of the building by 10.6%–16.8%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To mitigate climate change and achieve sustainable development, Chinese governments have introduced "1+N" "dual-carbon" policy system aimed at reducing CO 2 emissions, transforming energy structures and controlling pollution. An effective policy mix and synergy is crucial for achieving the emission reduction targets and for ensuring the effectiveness of the policies, and it is therefore of great practical importance to provide a pathway for policy synergy based on assessing policy effectiveness. This paper selects three policies, namely the carbon Emission Trading System (ETS), Coal Control and Clean Utilization (CCCU), and Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone (GFPZ), sets up ten scenarios, adopts difference-in-differences (DID) models to evaluate the impact, and give a pathway for policy synergy. The results show that ETS, CCCU, and GFPZ policies have significant positive effects on carbon emission reduction, energy structure transformation, and industrial environmental pollution control, respectively; CCCU has synergistic effects with ETS and GFPZ policies in controlling coal consumption and increasing the completion of industrial pollution control investments, respectively; while GFPZ policies have conflicting effects with CCCU and ETS in reducing carbon emissions and coal consumption, the GFPZ policy has conflicting effects with CCCU and ETS in reducing carbon emissions and controlling coal consumption. Finally, the study proposes a phased policy support system around carbon emission reduction in the power generation industry, energy structure transformation, and industrial environmental pollution control before 2030 and from 2030 to 2060. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential buildings have a substantial impact on global environmental impacts. In this paper we present a model that assesses impacts from materials (embodied impacts) as well as from heating (operational impacts) for all residential buildings in Switzerland. Our model builds on an existing high-resolution spatio-temporal building stock model, which estimates the space heating demand of buildings, based on building property and site data. In this work we additionally include the impacts of materials extraction, production, transportation, and disposal of building components (floors, roofs, walls, ceilings and windows). Our model comes with a site- and building-specific default parametrization for all buildings, but it is developed as a tool that allows architects and planners to adapt building and site data with specific information to increase the accuracy of the environmental assessment of the current buildings and future building-management scenarios. We applied the model to ten Swiss buildings and assessed a selection of building-management scenarios to illustrate the application of the tool. The results show that our model estimates fairly accurate values of thermal and ventilation heat transmittance, operational space heating demand, and operational and embodied climate-change impacts for the considered buildings. The detailed modeling results for the ten case study buildings outperformed the simplified version of the model with generic default values for material building composition (using age-grouped building archetypes), emphasizing the importance of adding detailed material information in building life cycle assessments. Therefore, a focus should be placed on obtaining accurate material inventories of buildings in future research. The here-developed model allows for integration of such detailed material inventories, overwriting the provided default values. • Tool provides assessment of embodied and operational impacts of the entire Swiss residential building stock. • Tool estimates close to accurate space heating demands of buildings. • Tool is equipped with generic default building and site data. • Tool allows overwriting generic values with data inputs from building stakeholders, which is demonstrated in the case study of 10 buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of renewable energy nowadays is particularly important not only to mitigate the climate change but also to increase the energy independence. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyse the impacts of attitudes and perception of the war in Ukraine and environmental aspects on selection of green electricity in Lithuania. The survey analysis conducted in early 2023 showed that only 35% of respondents have selected green electricity. Analysis of the main determinants of green electricity selection showed that attitudes towards energy consumption together with the perception of renewable energy environmental impacts (B = 0.13, p < 0.01), as well as attitudes towards the war impact together with the perception of the renewable energy role in solving energy crisis (B = 0.09, p < 0.01), positively and statistically significantly influenced selection of green electricity. Meanwhile, the interaction of attitudes towards the war impact and the perception of the renewable energy role in achieving energy independence insignificantly (B = −0.05, p = 0.06) determined selection of green electricity. From the socio-demographic variables, only age (B = −0.02, p = 0.003) and gender (B = 0.36; p < 0.01) had a significant effect on this behaviour. Thus, this study gives an additional insight for policymakers and green electricity suppliers on how to increase green electricity selection in the context of the war in Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper matched the data for all non-financial listed firms in China from 1990 to 2017 with weather data and used temperature and precipitation to represent climate change. Using daily temperature and daily precipitation data, we constructed temperature bins and precipitation bins. This study presents a potential first empirical analysis that applies the risk perception theory to comprehensively examine the impacts of daily temperature and daily precipitation on firms' debt financing costs. Compared to a day with a suitable temperature, a day with temperatures above 30 °C increases firms' debt financing costs by 0.2411%. Compared to a sunny day, a day with torrential rain increases firms' financing costs by 0.2697%. Approximately $122.13 million and $20.49 million in extra costs were incurred across all firms in 2017. We conducted a series of heterogeneity tests. We found that the negative impacts of climate change on debt financing costs are greater for firms that investor considers more vulnerable. Finally, we found two possible mechanisms. First, from the firm's subjective initiative perspective, firms that respond proactively during seasons of high temperatures and heavy rains can reduce the negative impacts. Second, adverse weather caused by climate change may also increase firms' debt financing costs by blocking travel. These results enrich the literature on firms' debt financing costs and contribute to the understanding of climate change's impact on firms. [Display omitted] • An extra high-temperature day increases firms' debt financing cost by 0.2411%. • An extra heavy-rain day increases firms' debt financing costs by 0.2697%. • The negative impacts will be greater for those firms that investor considers more vulnerable. • Firms' response proactively can reduce the negative impacts. • Climate change also may increase firms' debt financing costs by blocking travel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has steadily gained attention as the global economy has grown more quickly, preventing continued high-quality economic growth. In this context, the eco-innovation concept has recently risen to the top of the list of academic research topics since it is a crucial tool that combines reduced environmental effects with a favourable socioeconomic impact. Nevertheless, the environmental situation is not improving despite the increasing eco-innovation level. From one perspective, instead of concentrating on how eco-innovation lessens carbon emissions, this research explores the indirect effect of carbon emissions on the GDP-eco-innovation nexus. From another perspective, since FDI might lessen harmful pollution, this research analyses the indirect effect of FDI on the economic growth-eco-innovation nexus. Therefore, this paper highlights the relationship between eco-innovation and economic growth (GDP), considering the dual mediating roles of carbon emissions and FDI. First, we examine the effects of GDP on eco-innovation activities in nine MENA countries from 2000 to 2019 using the geographic Durbin model based on spatial panel data. Second, this paper analysed the dual mediating effect of carbon emissions and FDI using the spatial stepwise regression model. The findings of this paper are as follows: (i) GDP positively impacts eco-innovation activities, and (ii) carbon emissions and FDI mediate the GDP-eco-innovation nexus. Therefore, GDP, FDI, and carbon emissions are significant drivers of eco-innovation. This research represents an essential step towards a better understanding of the need to support the transition to sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Railways are a rather efficient transport mean, and yet there is increasing interest in reducing their energy consumption and making them more sustainable in the current context of climate change. Many studies try to model, analyse and optimise the energy consumed by railways, and there is a wide diversity of methods, techniques and approaches regarding how to formulate and solve this problem. This paper aims to provide insight into this topic by reviewing up to 52 papers related to railways energy consumption. Two main areas are analysed: modelling techniques used to simulate train(s) movement and energy consumption, and optimisation methods used to achieve more efficient train circulations in railway networks. The most used methods in each case are briefly described and the main trends found are analysed. Furthermore, a statistical study has been carried out to recognise relationships between methods and optimisation variables. It was found that deterministic models based on the Davis equation are by far (85% of the papers reviewed) the most common in terms of modelling. As for optimisation, meta-heuristic methods are the preferred choice (57.8%), particularly Genetic Algorithms. Highlights • Modelling and optimisation methods for railways energy efficiency are reviewed. • Modelling methods provide reliable simulations of the trains' energy consumption. • Optimisation methods help obtaining the most efficient solutions for train traffic. • Most used modelling methods are deterministic, based on Davis equation. • Most used optimisation methods are meta-heuristics, mainly genetic algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Much literature discusses higher education as an agent for sustainable development, but the extent to which higher education contributes to unsustainable economic and social systems receives less attention. This paper examines the environmental impacts of international student mobility in higher education. Combining several datasets, the paper presents a model of greenhouse gas emissions associated with international student mobility. Estimates suggest that these emissions are substantial and are rising faster than overall global emissions, but the emissions per student are slowly decreasing, largely due to changes in the patterns of mobility. The paper concludes that although international exchange is increasingly important, a meaningful consideration of higher education for sustainable development should take account of environmental costs of international mobility alongside its benefits. Highlights • Estimates emissions from international student mobility in higher education. • Considers emissions from travel and changes in consumption. • Estimates at least 14 megatons of CO 2 per year associated with student mobility. • Emissions per mobile student are decreasing as mobility patterns change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Most existing studies on environmental regulations and the location dynamics of pollution-intensive industries regard new environmental procedures as an incremental development process, and neglect the influence of sudden changes in environmental regulations triggered by a pollution crisis. Using the drinking water crisis in the Taihu Lake Watershed (TLW) in 2007 as an example, this paper examines the spatial behavior of pollution-intensive firms across the TLW, and pays special attention to the regional differences in the effectiveness of enforcing environmental regulations. We find that the pollution haven hypothesis works efficiently in the short term after an unexpected pollution crisis because of the immediate strengthening of environmental regulations by local governments under pressure from the central government and the public. However, the effect of strict environmental policies was compromised by differences in the effectiveness of policy enforcement across the watershed. Specifically, when other regions (for example, Huzhou) were compared with Wuxi (the site of the crisis in the present study), these regions were found to be relatively insensitive to the effects of the pollution incidents and the environmental regulations that were triggered. Highlights • This paper examines spatial behaviors of pollution-intensive firms across the Taihu Lake watershed in response to the water crisis. • The paper pays special attention to the regional difference in enforcement effectiveness of environmental regulations. • Pollution haven hypothesis works efficiently in the short run. • The effect of stringent environmental policies was compromised by differences in policy enforcement effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract For the water sector to cope with rising populations and the anticipated impacts of climate change, increasing amounts of construction output are needed to build water-related infrastructure. Amidst emerging operational energy efficiencies and gradual grid decarbonisation, the relative impact and extent of embodied carbon dioxide equivalent (embodied CO 2 e) effected from the construction and maintenance of water sector infrastructure is likely to rise. For practitioners in the water and construction sectors, there is a growing need to be able to understand and account for embodied CO 2 e. However, the contribution of embodied CO 2 e as part of the whole life cycle impacts of water related infrastructure is disputed in the current literature, and with only a handful of studies suggesting it is important its significance is not established. This work aims to explore this issue, and provide clarity. This paper shows the calculations involved to measure the embodied and operational CO 2 e of Old Ford Water Recycling Plant, a small blackwater recycling treatment facility producing 574 m3/day of reclaimed water. For the analyses, embodied carbon dioxide coefficients (ECCs) are used that were provided by the water operator Thames Water Utilities Ltd (TWU), and based on its supply chain, and datasets from Ecoinvent v3.1, a commercially available assessment tool. The final aggregated carbon footprint values calculated are 1.430 kgCO 2 e (TWU in-house analysis) and 1.566 kgCO 2 e (Ecoinvent) per cubic metre of recycled water. The results show that the contribution of embodied CO 2 e is significant, making up 50.7% (TWU) and 77.3% (Ecoinvent) of the total carbon footprint value in each analysis. The research identified that assessments could be improved if there was higher-quality data provided by manufacturers and suppliers on the embodied CO 2 e content of materials, components, and equipment. This paper further illustrates differences between calculations using generic data (Ecoinvent) and supply chain data, and the difficulties involved in producing functionally equivalent life cycle inventories. Graphical abstract Image 10027 Highlights • Contribution of embodied carbon is significant in water recycling plant case. • Embodied carbon deemed important in future project design and operation. • Generic data distorts true extent of accounted embodied impacts. • Robust information from supply chain can improve assessment accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Improving rural household energy efficiency is an important policy issue for climate change mitigation in China. A better understanding of the factors affecting farmers' energy-efficient appliance use behavior can help policymakers design more effective policies. This paper explores the effect of farmers' risk preferences and loss aversion on their energy-efficient appliance use behavior in rural China. Using unique data from a survey and a paired lottery experiment completed by 235 rural household heads in the Dazu District of China, this study finds that the farmers' risk preferences and loss aversion have significant effects on their energy-efficient appliance use behavior. The more risk-averse farmers are less likely to buy or use energy-efficient appliances. The farmers who are more loss averse are more willing to purchase and more likely to use durable energy-efficient appliances. In addition, the farmers' demographic factors (age, gender, education, and family location), their perceptions of climate change adaptation and their trust attitudes have significant effects on their energy-efficient appliance use behavior. This paper contributes to the emerging literature that relates risk preferences and loss aversion in experiments to farmers' energy-efficient appliance use behavior. Highlights • The analysis is based on a unique data set combining a survey and economic experiments. • The average response of our sample is risk averse and loss averse. • The more risk-averse farmers are less likely to use energy-efficient appliances. • The more loss-averse farmers are more willing to use durable energy-efficient appliances. • Farmers' socioeconomic status and trust attitudes affect their use behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A number of empirical methods have been developed to study China's sectoral carbon emissions (CSCE). Measuring these emissions is important for climate change mitigation. While several articles have reviewed specific methods, few attempts conduct a systematic analysis of all the major research methods. In total 807 papers were published on CSCE research between 1997 and 2017. The primary source of literature for this analysis was taken from the Web of Science database. Based on a bibliometric analysis using knowledge mapping with the software CiteSpace, the review identified five common families of methods: 1) environmentally-extended input-output analysis (EE-IOA), 2) index decomposition analysis (IDA), 3) econometrics, 4) carbon emission control efficiency evaluation and 5) simulation. The research revealed the main trends in each family of methods and has visualized this research into ten research clusters. In addition, the paper provides a direct comparison of all methods. The research results can help scholars quickly identify and compare different methods for addressing specific research questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To date, sustainable development has been the most important discourse informing planning, a powerful rhetoric for solving environmental problems that shows confidence in human ingenuity and technological advancements. However, recent advances in information and communication technologies, are prompting the development of smart(er) approaches to (sustainable) development, which might be signifying a departure from the more traditional, or perhaps earlier, greener narratives underpinning sustainable development. Within this context and informed by analysis of the literature, this paper aims to reflect on the extent to which ideas of going green and going smart are converging or diverging from the path towards sustainable development. This is done using convergence theory and Bennet's typology (1991) of similarities as an analytical framework. The findings suggest that the convergence of greening and smart ideas for sustainable development might be better achieved if smart-centric approaches to policy- and planning are subsumed in the overarching vision of environmental quality and resilience, with green approaches to urban development setting the path and driving decisions towards a sustainable future. Highlights • Climate risk and innovations in practice are suggesting a move away from greening efforts in planning for sustainable development. • In the name of resource and efficiency use, cities are responding by adopting smart(er) approaches to development. • This paper explores whether green and smart approaches converge, diverge or diffuse in their sustainable development quest. • Greater convergence could be achieved if smart = centric approaches were subsumed in green approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Despite the heightened urgency of curbing carbon emissions around the world, the healthcare sector in general, and the pharmaceutical sector in particular have received very little attention from the sustainability community in terms of their contribution to the global carbon footprint. In this paper, we conduct an analysis of the overall contributions and the historical emissions trends of the pharmaceutical sector, as well as an industry-specific comparative analysis of the major pharmaceutical companies in the world. Surprisingly, our analysis reveals that the pharmaceutical industry is significantly more emission-intensive than the automotive industry. We also use a previously published mathematical framework linking national target emissions to the target emission intensity of the pharmaceutical sector to derive the emission intensity of the pharmaceutical sector required for the US to meet its reductions commitments per the now defunct Obama-administration commitments at the 2015 Paris Agreement. We identify the excess emitters among the top-15 Pharmaceutical companies, from those that are leading the pack with their emissions improvement efforts. The results are quite instructive as we find a far greater variability amongst the Top-15 pharmaceuticals than the Top-10 automotive companies, suggesting a very disparate set of environmental practices within the industry. The paper should elicit further in-depth studies of the environmental performance of the pharmaceutical sector and help inform policy makers, business leaders and academicians on how to help curb this unwarranted level of emissions in this important and growing industry sector. Graphical abstract We conduct an analysis of the overall contributions and the historical emissions trends of the pharmaceutical sector, as well as an industry-specific comparative analysis of the major pharmaceutical companies in the world. Surprisingly, our analysis reveals that the pharmaceutical industry is significantly more emission-intensive than the automotive industry. We also use a previously published mathematical framework linking national target emissions to the target emission intensity of the pharmaceutical sector to derive the emission intensity of the pharmaceutical sector required for the US to meet its reductions commitments per the now defunct Obama-administration commitments at the 2015 Paris Agreement. We then use the same framework to identify the excess emitters among the top 15 Pharmaceutical companies, from those that are leading the pack with their emissions improvement efforts. There again, the results are quite instructive as we find a far greater variability amongst the Top 15 pharmaceuticals than the Top 10 automotive companies. Image 1 Highlights • Assessment and comparative analysis of GHG emissions of Top-15 global pharmaceutical companies. • The pharmaceutical industry emission intensity is about 55% higher than the automotive's. • There is a great level of variability in emissions (up to 5x) between peers with comparable revenues. • We calculate the intensities and maximum emissions required to comply with the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Electrifying urban transportation through the adoption of Electric Vehicles (EVs) has great potential to mitigate two global challenges, namely climate change and energy scarcity, and also to improve local air quality and further benefit human health. This paper was focused on the six typical factors potentially influencing the purchase behaviour of EVs in Beijing, China, namely vehicle price, vehicle usage, social influence, environmental awareness, purchase-related policies and usage-related policies. Specifically, this study used the data collected in a paper-based questionnaire survey in Beijing from September 2015 to March 2016, covering all of the 16 administrative regions, and tried to quantify the relative importance of the six factors, based on their weights (scores) given by participants. Furthermore, Multinomial Logit (MNL) models and Moran's I (a measure of global spatial autocorrelation) were used to analyse the weights of each factor from statistical and spatial perspectives, respectively. The results suggest that 1) vehicle price and usage tend to be more influential among the six factors, accounting for 32.3% and 28.1% of the importance; 2) Apart from the weight of social influence, the weights of the other five factors are closely associated with socio-demographic characteristics, such as individual income and the level of education; 3) people having similar attitudes towards vehicle usage (Moran's I = 0.10) and purchase restriction (Moran's I = 0.14) tend to live close to each other. This paper concludes with a discussion on applying the empirical findings in policy making and modelling of EV purchase behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to evaluate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a Chinese highway tunnel in the life cycle. Life cycle assessment (LCA) method is adopted in the paper. Based on rock mass classification and pavement categories, five different functional units have been proposed for the first time. The system boundaries, processes and assumptions are defined. The study results indicate: 1) the GHG emissions of a double-track four-lane Chinese highway tunnel in 100 years can be up to 375.5 thousand tons of CO 2 eq. Cement and electricity contribute to more than 80% of the total emissions in all functional units. 2) The construction stage, operation stage and maintenance stage emit 30.89%, 56.12% and 12.99% of the total GHG respectively. During the construction stage, casting and lining, rock support and road work are the top three GHG emission processes. 3) Rock conditions are discovered to be an important factor of affecting GHG emissions in tunnels. The GHG emissions of the 1-m Chinese highway tunnel are between 82 t to 113 t CO 2 eq. With the increase of rock mass grades, GHG emissions rapidly rise if the pavement design stays the same. The emission differences among the functional units are mainly from materials. 4) Asphalt pavements tend to generate more GHG emissions than concrete pavement due to the more frequent replacements of asphalt pavements. This paper investigates the influences of rock conditions and pavement types on the GHG emissions of Chinese tunnels in the life cycle, which can provide a scientific reference for policy making of the Chinese government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cities do play significant roles in tackling global environmental changes. Decoupling economic growth from environmental pressures is critical for global sustainable development, however, few studies pay attention to the decoupling analysis at city level. This paper conducts a comparative study of the decoupling performance of economic output from CO 2 emissions between Beijing and Shanghai, the top two cities in China. In this paper, the decoupling trends and the decoupling effects are explored from a sectoral perspective, by combining the Tapio decoupling elasticity and the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) model. The results show that Beijing and Shanghai both experienced weak decoupling in construction, expansive negative decoupling in transport, expansive coupling in trade, and weak decoupling in others over the period 2000–2015. Moreover, agriculture appeared strong decoupling in Beijing, and recessive decoupling in Shanghai; industry showed strong decoupling in Beijing, and weak decoupling in Shanghai. The decoupling effects showed different magnitudes and patterns in industrial sectors between Beijing and Shanghai. Overall, per-capita GDP and population growth inhibited the decoupling, while energy intensity, industrial share, energy mix accelerated the decoupling process. Highlights • The decoupling of sectoral economic output from carbon emissions in Beijing and Shanghai are investigated. • Beijing's industry enjoyed better decoupling performance than Shanghai's industry. • Transport should be put more emphasis in further decoupling efforts. • Energy intensity is crucial effect accelerating the decoupling process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The Sustainable Development Goals agreed by the United Nations in September 2015 comprise 17 goals and 169 targets aimed at integrating matters related to sustainable development into the overall economic, environmental and social frameworks of countries. Whereas the SDGs have a global dimension, their action implementation depends on the level of priority different countries give to them, and on how sustainability issues compete with a country's main problems. The aim of this paper was to identify the main Sustainable Development Goals approached by experts from different geographic regions, according to their experience and research area, and to discuss the relation between these goals and the main local issues and challenges of each region. The methodology starts with snowball sampling to collect information from experts from all geographic regions, through contact networks of universities in different countries. With the information about the goals researched by the participating experts, an analysis of the relation between the study focus and the geographical regions of origin was conducted. A total of 266 specialists from North America, Latin America/Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania participated in the survey. Based on the sample used, it can be said that there is a relation between the local problems or challenges observed in some regions and the main areas of interest of the surveyed experts, with a general emphasis on the study of goals 4, 11 and 13. Based on the data gathered, the paper presents a set of examples of positive and negative situations in the various regions, and considers the extent to which some Sustainable Development Goals are being pursued by research on a worldwide basis. Graphical abstract Image Highlights • The SDGs are now being implemented by many countries. • There are differences in the emphasis to the implementation of the SDGs across different geographical regions. • Goals related to Climate Action, Sustainable Cities and Education seem to be among the most popular ones. • The research gaps suggest that many SDGs deserve more attention in order not to "leave anyone behind". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Increased global competition in the agricultural sector is rapidly changing the structure of farms and farming. As the number of small and diversified farms (often family-owned) decreases, the number of large and specialized farms (often corporate-owned) is increasing. In this transformation, the agricultural sector is more and more concerned with strategy, innovation, and competition in the effort to be more productive and more profitable. At the same time, the sector faces demands that it become more environmentally responsible in its policies and practices. This paper proposes a Lean Implementation Framework that small and mid-size farms can use as they aim to increase production and profit and yet support environmental sustainability. This case study takes an action-oriented research approach that focuses on the implementation of a Green Lean approach at 34 Swedish farms using various Lean tools. The paper describes how training sessions, farm visits, workshops, and counseling were used to introduce the farmers to the benefits and risks of the implementation of a new business model that added Green elements to the traditional business model design. The paper concludes with recommendations for adaptations to the Framework and suggestions for future research. Highlights • Lean principles and practices in Green initiatives for the agricultural sector. • Challenges and outcomes when implementing Lean tools. • Environmental effects of implementing Lean tools. • Lean Implementation Framework for the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Energy efficiency improvement is usually regarded as an effective way to decrease energy consumption and to fight climate change, but it also booms energy consumption through rebound effects. But the improvement of energy efficiency also has rebound effects, which increases energy consumption and emission. So this paper arms to capture the rebound effects of efficiency improvement by considering zero-cost breakthrough of energy efficiency and price jump of energy purchase. First, energy efficiency improvement, measured by zero-cost breakthrough of energy efficiency, stimulates energy consumption, but it may reduce the total emission. Second, both the direct and indirect rebound effects of energy efficiency improvement on energy consumption and environment are captured. Interestingly, jumping energy price decreases both the direct and indirect rebound effect. Finally, the result of the paper shows that restriction of individuals' entry or competition restriction moderates the rebound effects of energy efficiency improvement. Highlights • Effect of competition on energy efficiency rebound effects is developed in theory. • Rebound effects of energy efficiency are captured under zero-cost breakthrough. • Moderate monopoly is proofed to be helpful for reducing energy efficiency rebound effects. • Improvement of energy efficiency has both direct and indirect rebound effects. • Energy price jump has offset effects on rebound effects of efficiency promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The objective of this paper is to carry out a systematic review of the literature on climate justice from the point of view of the capabilities approach. This review had as object of study 53 papers selected in the Web of Science and Scopus databases, and focused on the following dimensions: starting models for the preparation of action plans (Basic Rights, Polluter Pays, and Fair Division), types of actions adopted (adaptation and mitigation), level of adoption (macro and micro) and individual freedoms affected (economic, political, social, transparency guarantees and protective security). The main results and contributions of the study are: a) the Basic Rights model is more frequently used than the other two; b) there is a prevalence of some freedoms when analysed in the context of adaptation and mitigation actions; c) opportunity to apply quantitative methods and mixed methods on climate justice analysis; d) a theoretical framework organization of the concepts related to the link between climate justice and human development, which can help future research on the subject as well as contribute to the cooperation among academics and policy makers post-Paris Agreement. Highlights • Identification of the developed countries as research centers, and leading researchers on climate justice and human development. • Greater frequency of climate adaptation actions and climate justice. • Capabilities approach as an assessment indicator for adaptation and mitigation actions to climate change. • Identification the special role of women and climate justice guarantees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Physical, Regulatory and Brand value risks due to climate change challenges are foreseen by businesses globally. This paper is oriented towards these challenges and prepared a comprehensive Greenhouse gases (GHG) footprint plan and identification of mitigation opportunities for ONGC, a fortune 500 and national oil company of India. Internationally recognized standards and guidelines like Greenhouse Gas Protocol, ISO-14064, and American Petroleum Institute compendium have been referred for quantifying carbon emissions in nearly real 400 + operation control facilities. The GHG inventory is based on Operational Control approach to identify the boundary for which emissions are to be quantified and two significant scopes of emissions viz Direct Emissions and Indirect Emissions are identified and quantified. The quantification concluded that GHG emission footprint for the year 2016–17 is in the range of 9 million tons of CO 2 equivalent. GHG emissions mainly account due to stationary combustion, fugitive emissions and wastewater treatment, which share the around 56% of total emissions. Another 24–26% of emissions are contributed due to flaring, processes by glycol dehydrator, acid gas removal units, and by electricity purchased from the grid. As a result, it has been found that ONGC emits 187 kg CO 2 e emissions per tonne throughput and also compared with its global peer organizations. At the organization level, "Key Industrial Sites" have been identified as contributing higher GHG emissions and accordingly key "hot-spots," a list of 15 GHG mitigation opportunities have been proposed in the paper. Two GHG mitigation initiatives based on solar energy and bioenergy application undertaken at ONGC has also been briefed on case studies. Highlights • Comprehensive carbon footprint plan and identification of mitigation opportunities for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), a fortune 500 and national oil company of India. • Guidelines like Greenhouse Gas Protocol, ISO-4064 and American Petroleum Institute compendium are referred for quantifying carbon emissions from direct and indirect sources. • Green policy, incentives and mandatory compliance. • CO2e emissions per tonne throughput and also compared with its peer global organisations. • Key hot-spots, with a list of 15 GHG mitigation opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The agricultural sector in Nigeria provides a socio-economic resource base for exiting pervasive poverty, and transforming the economy. However, with the challenges posed by climate change through variability in rainfall, the agricultural livelihoods and poverty status of the population could be threatened due to the vulnerability context of the country. This paper explores the relationship between rainfall and food poverty through the assessment of vulnerability to climate change in an agricultural economy by geo-referencing and mapping of rainfall variability and food poverty. It provides a quantification of the scale and location of the area under food poverty and rainfall variability with scenarios that provide alternative sustainable development pathways of desirable outcomes. The coefficients of variation of rainfall or precipitation seasonality were computed from geo-referenced data and topologically overlaid on the most recent food poverty profile for Nigeria. The findings reveal intriguing phenomena bordering on agro-climatic and socio-economic factors of climate change vulnerability. The findings provide a basis for policy formulation and implementation on inequity of food poverty and environmental sustainability. It offers empirical insights on how to rethink concepts of socio-economic and environmental sustainability through landscapes and livelihoods as outcomes of vulnerability contexts. The paper concludes that, there is need for agricultural transformation along vulnerability dimensions. The evidence of the nexus between rainfall and food poverty could be a new model for promoting sustainability of the agrarian economy in Nigeria. Highlights • Rainfall variability exacerbates food poverty in rain-fed agricultural-based economy. • Agroecological-based system of agricultural production enhances agricultural livelihoods and environmental resilience. • The nexus between precipitation and poverty has implications for landscape, livelihoods and sustainable agricultural development. • Strategic climate change adaptation policy should aim at improving food poverty situation, and boosting resilience through agroecological-based food production system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with the urgency of climate change, Climate Engineering has been framed as a fast and feasible technological solution. At the same time, however, critique against it is getting increasingly louder. This paper articulates a critical analysis of Climate Engineering technologies from a point of view situated within the degrowth discourse. In the first part two approaches discussed within the degrowth debate are presented: the concept of viability based on a biophysical perspective and the concept of conviviality based on a socio-cultural approach. In a second step formalized arguments from the point of view of applied ethics are articulated and applied to three Climate Engineering Technologies: Sulfate Aerosol Injection, Bio-energy with Carbon Capture and Storage, and Afforestation. In a third step, an extended version of the trade-off argument about mitigation versus Climate Engineering solution is discussed from a degrowth perspective: accordingly, within the current dominant growth paradigm, climate engineering technologies might lead to reduced mitigation efforts. The paper follows the argumentative turn in applied ethics and displays a formalization of arguments that can help clarify decision-making and identify the different dimensions at stake. The paper articulates arguments against the deployment of CE technologies and advances a new version of the trade-off-argument based on a degrowth perspective. From the point of view of a degrowth-based critique of technology, the only type of Climate Engineering Technology ethically acceptable would be afforestation under specific conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrial sector has significantly contributed to global climate change and urban air pollution while driving economic development. This paper takes the synergistic CO2 and SO2 emission reduction in China's industrial sector as an entry point quantifies the synergistic CO2 and SO2 emission reduction effect using the Kaya extension model and analyzes the synergistic emission reduction expansion mechanism in depth. It is found that the synergistic effect of CO2 and SO2 in the industrial sector is prevalent in most provinces in China. Every 10,000 tons of CO2 emission reduction leads to 1600 tons of SO2 emission reduction. Regional heterogeneity also clarifies that there are differences in synergistic emission reduction among different provinces, with most regions having a significant positive effect of synergistic emission reduction, while a small number of regions have an inverse effect, and direct SO2 reduction measures should be considered separately. The interaction effect analysis found that energy efficiency improvement in the industrial sector is the critical path to synergistic effect enhancement. At the same time, R&D expenditure and fixed asset investment have a weak effect on synergistic emission reduction. The interaction of the three factors can synergize the emission reduction effect by more than twice. The study's findings can be used as a reference for China's industrial sector to achieve the goal of reducing pollution and carbon emissions and for the practice of regional synergistic emission reduction, as well as for the formulation of international synergistic emission reduction policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bearing in mind the devastating nature of climate change, the question of how climate change affects economic growth is becoming increasingly important. The aim of this paper is to answer this question by eliminating the most important methodical shortcoming of the available literature. The analysis is based on an advanced plug-in model averaging procedure that allows taking into account a very large number of potentially important growth determinants. The results of the analysis show that the growth of CO 2 and CH 4 emissions by 1%, increases on average the economic growth rate by 0.00132 and 0.00537 percentage points, respectively. In addition, an increase in surface temperature change by one degree Celsius results in an average increase in the rate of economic growth by 0.865 percentage points. Finally, increasing the number of climate-related disasters by one leads to an average increase in the economic growth rate of 0.115 percentage points. The obtained findings also reveal the impact of climate change is very heterogeneous across countries. Such results imply that the current extent of global warming and climate change does not yet have a dominant negative impact on economic growth. • The impact of climate change on economic growth is very heterogeneous. • The average effect of climate change on economic growth is still positive. • Surface temperature change increase by Celsius degree, increases growth by 0.865 pp on average. • Surface temperature change doesn't affect growth in at least 30% of countries. • The negative impact of climate change on economic growth is still relatively rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A consortium managed project in the Upper Indus Basin of Gilgit-Baltistan , Pakistan, supported the creation of women's collective farming. The component of the project related to water resource management for agriculture was implemented in Hunza district, where in three sites, the communities encouraged women farmers to engage in the pilot interventions related to innovative water resource management technologies and improved farming practices to overcome climate-induced issues for farmers. This paper analyzes the situation of women as collective farmers and its contributions to women's agency. The study used a gender analysis framework, and data was collected through quantitative and qualitative research methodologies in the project site areas. The study's findings show that climate change has created issues more for women farmers being at the forefront in handling and tackling the impacts through various measures. It shows that collective farming and networking is an appropriate tool for women to challenge norms and stereotypes that hinder them from being part of the decision-making at various levels. Furthermore, it helps women to minimize drudgery by sharing burdens, using appropriate technology, and sharing their successes and issues while working together. Based on the findings, this study suggests that policy decisions to implement such initiatives at a more macro level will help involve women at various levels of decision-making, minimize their drudgery, expand the choices of women farmers, and overall contribute to the agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]