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The private sector plays a crucial role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, implementation of the SDGs into corporate strategies is low, and there are as yet no practicable methods to assess the impact of business activities on the SDGs. Therefore, this paper identifies influencing factors of industries on the official SDG indicators, and we develop a top-down method to quantify industry footprints vis-à-vis the SDGs, including the manufacturing and use phase and supply-chain effects. We apply the proposed method to case studies for 19 industries (which is the entire private sector, with the exception of services) and 28 environmental SDG indicators, covering topics such as greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, microplastic emissions, and land take. First, the results show that the private sector has a high impact on the SDG indicators under analysis, with a total footprint of 66% for all industries on average. Second, large industries such as agriculture, construction, and motor vehicles usually have the highest footprints. Third, a few industries cause a major part of the footprint for each indicator, which means efficient improvements are indeed possible. Finally, every industry has some impact on any given SDG indicator, at least in a small way via the supply chain. By quantifying footprints for the private sector, this paper demonstrates where responsibility for achieving the SDGs lies, it also supports companies in making decisions and implementing the SDGs in their strategy. In addition, this data-based assessment helps to avoid "SDG-picking". • Top-down method for quantifying industries impact on the SDGs developed. • Influencing factors of the private sector on 28 SDG indicators identified. • High impact of the private sector on the SDGs and relevant SDG indicators identified. • Footprints of 19 industry sectors quantified; sectors with high impacts identified. • Solid foundation for strategic implementation of the SDGs in industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past seven years, the advancement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is gaining increasing attention in the African context. Consistent with this effort, the present study aims to review the existing literature systematically to document contribution and methodological gaps. Specifically, the review systematically explores, through bibliometric literature and systematic method reviews, authors, countries, cited papers, journals, author's keywords, topic dendrogram, and methodological choices of papers associated with Africa SDGs scholars. The R Studio software is used to analyze 200 papers on SDGs, authored by 606 scholars and published in 102 peer-reviewed leading sources between 2015 and 2022. The results reveal that SDGs literature in Africa is an imminent study area, and there are two main strands of literature advancing SDGs in Africa: (1) business growth, entrepreneurship, and poverty reduction, and (2) renewable energy, tourism, and ICT. Key findings from the analysis of the papers are discussed, and implications for future research directions consisting of research questions, research methods and designs, and SDGs research are provided. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The international investment literature consistently indicates that enterprises, functioning as pivotal components of the economic system, engage in diversified outward foreign investment activities, thereby catalyzing the transition towards a greener and more sustainable economy and society. Based on the overseas investment data of Chinese listed companies from 2009 to 2019, this paper adopts a comprehensive approach comprising the two-way fixed effects model, propensity score matching technique, and difference-in-differences set up to evaluate the impact of the enterprise's overseas investment quantity and decision-making of host countries on green development. The findings explore that an increase in outward investment quantity facilitates the enterprise's green transition, which withstands robustness testing, including the decomposition of the green transition index, adjustments to the sample timeframe, and exclusion of corporate samples from top-tier cities. Such promoting effects are more pronounced among listed companies investing in low- and middle-income countries, as well as those located in provinces aligned with the Belt and Road Initiative in China. Further, an enterprise's overseas investment decision-making by the proposal of the BRI has exhibited a substantial and enduring enhancement of green development. This discovery underscores a pragmatic trajectory for the enterprise's green transformation, driven by proactive engagement in high-level openness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that emphasizes sustainable and affordable energy presents a practical pathway to achieve sustainable growth. Moreover, this goal aligns with SDG 13, which focuses on climate action. Nonetheless, it is important to consider factors such as political and financial risk, as they can influence climate action efforts and the renewable energy sources adoption. Hence, this study broadens the conversation surrounding CO 2 emission reduction and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It accomplishes this by investigating the interplay between renewable energy, political risk, financial risk, and CO 2 emissions in Finland spanning from 1990/Q1 to 2021/Q4. Notably, this research distinguishes itself through its exploration of these complex connections, employing a wavelet-based quantile methodology. Unlike traditional quantile regression, which can only reveal connections between variables within each quantile, the wavelet-based quantile approach enables the simultaneous capture of correlations across quantiles and periods. The results show that in the long-term and across all quantiles (0.01–0.99), energy efficiency, specifically gas and oil efficiency, lessens CO 2. In addition, low financial and political risks improve ecological quality by lessening CO 2 across all periods and quantiles (0.01–0.99). The paper outcomes serve as a basis for formulating a policy framework aimed at achieving SDG 7 and SDG 13 in Finland. • We explore the impact of energy efficiency and country risk on CO 2 emissions. • The role of renewable energy and economic growth are also analyzed. • The Time series data of the Finland is used from 1990/Q1 to 2020/Q4. • Various wavelet-based quantile correlation is applied. • Renewable energy, oil and gas efficiency decrease CO 2 emissions in each quantile and across periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy is an effective solution to alleviate the energy crisis and achieve sustainable development, and is gradually growing into an important energy source to support economic and social development. Different renewable energy technical plans have different characteristics under multiple criteria. Therefore, before the further exploitation of renewable energy sources, it is of great significance to evaluate the comprehensive performance of different plans and then determine the best renewable energy sources. Given this background, this paper proposes a novel evaluation method for renewable energy technical plans based on improved rough set theory and grey cloud model. Firstly, based on the normalized evaluation data, self-organizing map (SOM) clustering algorithm and system clustering analysis are adopted to discretize the evaluation attributes indexes and decision attributes indexes, respectively. Next, the improved rough set conditional information entropy method is used to calculate the index weights. Finally, the grey cloud model is employed to determine the grade classification of each evaluated plan. At the same time, each grade is quantified by assigning a corresponding score, and the comprehensive performances of renewable energy plans can be calculated, and then the ranking of different plans is achieved. Based on the actual renewable energy development data from a province in China, experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The results show that the proposed method performs better than some evaluation methods for renewable energy technical plans. [Display omitted] • Propose a novel evaluation method for renewable energy technical plans. • Use self-organizing map clustering algorithm to discretize the attributes indexes. • Apply improved rough set theory to determine the index weights. • Achieve the complete ranking of plans, and classify the plans into different levels. • Compared with the existing evaluation method, the proposed method performs better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous advancement of the digital economy and green development strategies, exploring the impact of digital transformation on corporate green technology innovation becomes an importantly urgent issue. Based on the perspectives of asymmetric effects and structural breakpoints, this paper empirically analyses the effect of digital transformation on green technology innovation, as well as its heterogeneity and non-linear characteristics, using fixed effect models and panel threshold model with a sample of Chinese A-share-listed corporates from 2011 to 2021. The findings suggest that digital transformation of corporates can significantly promotes green technology innovation, which remains valid after a series of endogenous and robustness tests. Heterogeneous regression results shows that digital transformation exhibits an asymmetric impact on green technology innovation, with greater incentive effect for state-owned corporates, manufacturing corporates, and corporates located in areas with stricter environmental regulations. Additionally, threshold effect analyses prove that a positive non-linear relationship between digital transformation and green technology innovation, when corporate human capital, industry competition and regional institutional quality exceeded their respective structural breakpoints, the marginal contribution of digital transformation is further strengthened. This research provides clearer policy insights for corporates to promote cleaner production and low carbon development through digitization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-quality economic development focuses on achieving effective qualitative improvement and reasonable quantitative growth in the economy, which is the essential way for China to achieve sustainable development. This paper aims to investigate the role of financial development in the impact of foreign direct investment on high-quality economic development. GDP and green total factor productivity are used to measure the quantity and quality of economic development, respectively. We construct benchmark panel regression models, nonlinear interaction term models, and panel threshold models to examine the threshold effect of FDI on high-quality economic development based on the scale, structure, and efficiency of financial development. A series of tests are conducted to check the robustness of the estimates. Our results show that green total factor productivity in China is primarily driven by green technology progress. Additionally, foreign direct investment has a positive impact on China's high-quality economic development, with a threshold effect and nonlinear characteristics. Specifically, the scale of financial development affects the influence of foreign direct investment on the quantity of economic development, while the efficiency of financial development affects its influence on the quality of economic development. Furthermore, the structure of financial development affects both the quantity and quality of economic development. This study presents novel findings that contribute to understanding the role of financial development in the impact of foreign direct investment on high-quality economic development. Likewise, our research has implications for achieving high-quality development. The introduction of foreign direct investment under the high-quality development of the economy should comprehensively consider financial development. • The impacts on high-quality economic development of financial development and FDI were discussed. • The scale, structure and efficiency of financial development were considered. • Both quantity and quality of economic development were focus on. • The green total factor productivity in China was measured. • Policy implications of introducing FDI in China were proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the top carbon emitter in the world, a key step taken by China to encourage energy conservation, pollution reduction, and environmentally friendly development is the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy, which has made important contributions to reducing global emissions. The LCCP policy aims to conserve energy and reduce emissions, inexorably influence many facets of the economic system because it is a well-rounded environmental management strategy. So, has this policy impacted the entrepreneurial activity of the region while achieving green development? Using panel data from China's 279 cities from 2002 to 2019, this article employs the difference-in-differences (DID) model to assess the influence of the LCCP policy on urban entrepreneurial activity. Through the results, the LCCP policy generally inhibits entrepreneurial activity. But the level of green innovation can alleviate this inhibitory effect. Based on the heterogeneity analysis, the LCCP policy exerts a more pronounced inhibitory effect on entrepreneurial activity in central and western regions, resource-based cities, and non-central cities. Further, the LCCP policy inhibits entrepreneurial activity in high-carbon industries while encouraging entrepreneurial activity in emerging industries, resulting in industrial structure change and upgrading. This paper supplies new empirical evidence for the effects of the LCCP policy on entrepreneurial activity and industrial structure change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the driving mechanism of natural conditions and human activities on wetland ecosystem service value (WESV) change is important for the sustainable development of wetland resources. The existing studies often analyze the direct effects of natural conditions and human activities on WESV, however, the interaction mechanism of them on WESV is still unclear. Therefore, based on the remote sensing image data of Liaoning Province China in 1990–2020, this paper combined Emergy with Partial least squares-structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to evaluate main WESV and explore the interaction mechanism between socio-economic development factor (F sed), climate factor (F cl), environment factor (F en)and terrain factor (F te) on WESV change. The results showed that the provisioning (WESV P) and regulating (WESV R) services value increased by 6.93 E+14 and 3.01 E+14 solar emjoules (sej), respectively, while the cultural services value (WESV C) decreased by 1.50 E+14sej. Overall, the total value of wetland services value (WESV T) increased by 8.45 E+14sej during the study period, with a growth rate of 37.88%. F sed was the most significant factor driving WESV growth, with path coefficient of 0.53, followed by F en and F te , with path coefficient of 0.23 and 0.20, respectively, while F cl had the greatest negative effect on WESV, with path coefficient of −0.18. From the perspective of the interaction between each factor, F cl weakened the positive effect of F sed and F en on WESV, at the same time, F sed weakened the positive effect of F te on WESV. Through the indirect influence of F te , the adverse effect of F cl on WESV was further enhanced. This study innovatively revealed the interaction mechanism of natural conditions and human activities on WESV change, and the results could provide scientific basis for the management and sustainable development of wetland resources. [Display omitted] • Emergy theory was applied to calculate the main wetland ecosystem services value (WESV). • The interaction mechanism between natural conditions and human activities on WESV change was revealed by PLS-SEM. • F sed played an important role in the indirect effect of WESV change, and the interaction between F cl and F en exacerbated their negative effect on WESV change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Commission is pursuing a circular bioeconomy to tackle pressing sustainability challenges, such as climate change and fossil dependency. Previous bioeconomy policy studies demonstrated the existence of competing bioeconomy discourses in the European Union. However, it remains nebulous how such discursive conflicts emerge and change, particularly in online settings. In this paper, we provide a more in-depth analysis of how argumentative changes of actors alter the network of online dynamic discourse coalitions. We base our findings on interviews and a qualitative discourse network analysis of 9983 tweets about European Union bioeconomy policies from the period 2008 – 2021. Our results indicate that initially, expert debates centred around storylines on bioeconomy advantages. After the 2012 Bioeconomy Strategy, the debate diversified with the entry of new actors and storylines. Two discourse coalitions, 'Green future' and 'Planetary boundaries', emerged around conflicting storyline clusters. In the aftermath of the 2018 Bioeconomy Strategy update, the debate simplified into core argumentations of few, highly conflicting storylines, leading to a polarization of the two discourse coalitions. Storyline hijacking further added to polarization and conflict. Understanding the evolution of online dynamic discourse coalitions provides new opportunities for practitioners to open up discourses towards storylines from other parts of the discourse network. This can help to prevent locking-in the limited range of solutions in congruence with the dominant 'Green future' discourse. [Display omitted] • The future of the bioeconomy in the EU is discussed controversially on X/Twitter. • Storyline diversification and simplification dynamics led to polarization. • The EU Commission is almost exclusively part of one side of the discourse network. • EU bioeconomy debates head towards a problematic discursive lock-in. • To open up the debate, include ideas of other parts of the discourse network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability assessment provides essential information to facilitate informed decision-making, enabling the selecting of the best option among various projects. This research paper considers the decision-making problem in the context of marginalised and isolated communities, introducing a groupal model for evaluating the sustainability of small-scale power supply projects. The proposed model incorporates a comprehensive set of five indicators and 25 criteria. The analysis presented in this study prioritises these indicators and criteria, introducing new criteria based on several stakeholders' participation and offering guidance on measuring the identified criteria. Furthermore, the proposal provides fundamental thresholds for evaluating the projects' sustainability and proposes a model based on aggregated indicators to assess the available alternatives. It encompasses all stages of the decision-making process, employing multiple indicators to evaluate the sustainability of power supply projects. The effectiveness of the proposed model was validated in a real case study conducted in a marginalised community facing isolation challenges in La Guajira, Colombia. The evaluation showcased the model's contribution to decision-making processes regarding power supply projects in isolated communities. Finally, the results demonstrated the suitability of this strategy for immediate application, highlighting its potential impact on decision-making for sustainable development within marginalised areas. • The multi-criteria-based decision-making model maximises projects' sustainability. • The model evaluates the projects' sustainability, incorporating innovative criteria. • The model implementation in a study case confirms its efficacy for decision-making. • The study case findings suggest adopting cooperative or community-based governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent growth of the space sector, spurred by a surge in private actors, has led to a sharp increase in our ability to address societal challenges through space data. However, this has exacerbated an already critical situation in space: the proliferation of space debris and a critical expansion of space traffic which is leading to high levels of orbital congestion. In parallel, increased levels of spacecraft production and orbital launches are also heightening the environmental footprint of the sector. This might lead to a paradoxical situation whereby the use of space to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) becomes unsustainable from the perspective of both the Earth and space environment. This situation can be described as the 'space sustainability paradox'. This paper presents this concept for the first time and argues that existing policies and remediation actions are not a long-term sustainable solution for tackling this issue and may actually intensify the problem. This places an added importance upon addressing space sustainability in a more coherent, strategic and responsible manner, potentially based on the doughnut economic model of social and planetary boundaries. Doing so may prevent the sector from falling victim to a 'tragedy of the commons' type of scenario and avoid negative trends from becoming the norm. As a result, this would ensure that outer space can continue to be used by future generations to address societal challenges, without priming severe and enduring damage to the Earth and space environment. • Space sustainability is a growing but often misunderstood concept. • Sustainability from and of space are two finely balanced and interrelated issues. • Existing policies/remediation actions are not a long-term solution for sustainability. • A major paradigm shift is needed to enable space sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ecotourism certification's efficacy as a potential environmental management tool for promoting sustainable development, the applicability of Western ecotourism certification patterns in China and the environmental effects of China's ecotourism certification remain unclear. Based on China's Prototype-zone of National Ecotourism Attractions (PNEA) certification, this paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the causal relationship between ecotourism and low-carbon sustainable development in relation to public environmental concerns. The multiperiod Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is set up to examine the supervision of PNEA certification on regional carbon emissions based on the panel data from 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities in 2011–2017. Results demonstrate that PNEA approval can reduce regional carbon emissions by 1.1% per capita, and this effect would increase over time. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the carbon emission reduction impact is significantly higher on midwestern cities, resource-dependent cities, and cities with net population inflow. Furthermore, the determinants of public environmental concerns, such as PNEA's functions of tourism economic development and environmental education, are crucial for low-carbon sustainable development. The findings quite clearly account for the contributions of ecotourism certification in promoting sustainable development and the benefits of effective policy instruments. • The PNEA certification implemented by China's central government is different from the Western ecotourism certifications. • The approval of China's unique ecotourism certification can reduce regional carbon emissions by 1.1% per capita. • The economic development function and environmental education function are key to promoting public environmental concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive energy-related carbon emission intensity will lead to deterioration of environmental quality and hinder green economic growth. This paper proposes a novel self-adaptive fractional order grey generalized Verhulst model (SAFGGVM) to predict energy-related carbon emission intensity in China, America, India, Russia, and Japan with nonlinear and complex characteristics effectively. Firstly, self-adaptive fractional order and dynamic background value coefficient are introduced to capture the nonlinear evolutionary trends. Subsequently, the optimal nonlinear parameters are determined using Grey Wolf Optimization algorithm through comprehensive comparison. Furthermore, the flexibility of SAFGGVM is verified by presenting its relevance to existing models. Finally, the validity, applicability, and robustness of SAFGGVM are confirmed by comparing with two machine learning models and four grey prediction models. The empirical results exhibit that the overall precision of SAFGGVM model significantly prevails over the others in five cases, with MAPE values less than 6% in both the simulation and prediction intervals. The out-of-sample forecast results indicate that the energy-related carbon emission intensity of five countries will fall into 5.7024, 1.6030, 7.3668, 8.1633, 2.0399 tons/10,000 USD by 2025, and the decreasing rate of developing countries tends to catch up with, or even exceed, developed countries. Projection results can serve as a reference point for countries to achieve green and sustainable development. • A novel self-adaptive grey generalized Verhulst model is proposed. • Energy-related carbon emission intensity (ECEI) of five countries is predicted. • Optimal nonlinear parameters are determined by Grey Wolf Optimization algorithm. • The novel model is superior to other competing models in accuracy and roubutness. • Decline rate of ECEI in developing countries will catch up with developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development requires more investment in sustainable companies and less in unsustainable firms. However, the factors driving sustainable investing are not well understood. To address this gap, this paper uses institutional theory to examine three determinants of sustainable investing: (1) investor commitment to sustainable investing initiatives; (2) normative pressure; and (3) home-country influences. The findings indicate that sustainable investing initiatives do not guarantee more sustainable asset allocation among members. Normative pressure correlates with reduced investment in unsustainable companies. Investors from home-countries with legal systems prioritizing diverse stakeholders, and with governments committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), tend to invest less in unsustainable companies. Conversely, investors from countries with limited SDG progress show higher investment in unsustainable firms, while those from more developed nations invest more in sustainable companies. These results highlight the need for a critical examination of institutional efficacy in promoting sustainable investing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the Circular Economy (CE) has gained attention as a strategy for achieving sustainable development through cleaner production and reducing waste and pollution. At the same time, digital technologies are recognized as crucial sustainability drivers by enabling efficiency, collaboration, and innovation. This research paper explores the factors that support Green Entrepreneurship (GE) and digitalization in the context of CE and Waste Management (WM) in Indian manufacturing "Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises" (MSMEs). Further, the study prioritizes, establishes a contextual relationship, and clusters the GE factors that enable digitalization in the CE and WM of Indian manufacturing MSMEs. To meet research goals, the study uses a mixed-methods approach that includes a literature review, qualitative interviews with MSME managers, and theoretical support (stakeholder theory, resource-based view, dynamic capability theory, met expectation theory, and upper echelons theory) to find the enablers. Further, two-phase "Multi-Criteria Decision Making" (MCDM) tools are utilized. Initially, the quantitative "Best-Worst Method" (BWM) was used for ranking, and then "Total Interpretive Structural Modeling" (TISM) was used to establish a mutual relationship among the enablers. The strength of relationships among the enablers was established based on "dependence power" (DEP) and "driving power" (DRP). The findings through BWM analysis show that among the main category, technology-based enablers, and among sub-categories, top management and organizational coordination are the high-priority enablers/sub-enablers to optimize sustainable action. The findings also suggest that technology infrastructure for cleaner and sustainable manufacturing, knowledge of green entrepreneurs, training, the dynamic capacities of digitalization towards a CE, subsidies, and finance are driving enablers. The research contributes to understanding the enabling factors of GE and digitalization and their interdependencies for CE and sustainable development. [Display omitted] • Green Entrepreneurship and Digitalization drive Sustainable Waste Management and Circular Economy. • Top management and organizational coordination are crucial for sustainable action. • Infrastructure and knowledge drive digitalization in the Circular Economy. • Digitalization and green entrepreneurship complement the circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the goal of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" in China, it is significant to explore whether green finance contributes to carbon emission reduction. Therefore, based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2020, this paper empirically examines the impact of green finance on carbon emissions and its mechanism using the FE model, GMM model, DID, and the mediating effect model. Results find that green finance can significantly promote carbon emissions reduction, and this promotion remains still after robustness tests. The heterogeneity analysis shows that green finance's carbon emission reduction effect is more significant in developed and western regions. Moreover, the results of policy intervention effects confirm that green finance reform and innovation pilot zones (GFRIs) for carbon emission reduction are more pronounced than in other regions. Finally, the mediating effects reveal that industrial structure and green innovation are the core transmission channels through which green finance influences carbon emission reduction. These findings offer meaningful implications for formulating reasonable carbon emission reduction plans and determining the future development direction of green finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With its strong ties to the European Union, Germany is well-positioned to assist many countries achieve sustainability goals. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to examine how renewable energy intensity and renewable energy share improve environmental sustainability, the load capacity factor (LCF) in Germany from 1970 to 2018. To this end, the study uses the autoregressive distributed lag model, with the effects of the Kyoto Protocol included as a dummy variable. The study contributes to the literature by considering and testing for the first time the impact of renewables on the LCF in terms of intensity and share for Germany. The empirical results show that (i) economic growth lowers the LCF faster in the early stages of economic development than in later periods; therefore, the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is valid in Germany. (ii) A 1% upsurge in renewable energy intensity has no statistically significant effect on the LCF, while a 1% rise in the share of renewables in the total energy mix increases LCF by 0.48%. (iii) A 1% rise in urbanization reduces the LCF by 6.52%. (iv) A 1% augment in human capital enhances the LCF by 3.49%. These outcomes suggest that the German government should use human capital development and increasing the share of renewable energy as policy instruments to achieve the sustainable development goals. [Display omitted] • The EKC hypothesis is valid for Germany. • Renewable energy intensity has no influence on the load capacity factor. • A higher renewable share in the energy mix is associated with an improvement in LCF. • Human capital plays a key role in solving environmental challenges. • The urbanization process has a devastating effect on the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid population growth and urbanisation have accelerated waste generation, and effective waste management has become a major challenge worldwide. With advances in technology and management methods, waste management strategies have begun embracing digitalisation, leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics, cloud/edge computing, machine learning, 5G communication, and blockchain technologies. Amongst them, the blockchain technology has the structural features of achieving information security and integrity without central guarantees. Blockchain also meets the data record/storage needs of waste management and the design of new mechanisms for effective waste management. These benefits make blockchain an attractive technology in the field of waste management, with researchers and practitioners alike investigating its broad applications to support sustainable waste management. However, this emerging technology has not yet been widely accepted by potential users. To further champion the application of blockchain technology, this review paper provides a systematic overview of the various pathways in which the technology has been applied in the waste management industry and further discusses its related challenges and opportunities via considering the promising prospect of combining blockchain technology with IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and life cycle assessment (LCA). This review also provides insights for interpreting some emerging applications of blockchain in the field of waste management and clarifying the research paths in the context of blockchain, digitalised waste management, and circular economy. [Display omitted] • Impacts of blockchain technology on waste management have been substantial. • Recent development from blockchain's functional perspectives was surveyed. • There is a long way towards blockchain-based sustainable waste management. • Relevant challenges and opportunities in blockchain applications were discussed. • Outlooks in digitalised waste management and circular economy were clarified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper profiles Australian universities’ website communications about sustainability initiatives, especially relating to Talloires Declaration signification and the ten recommended actions. The research involves a content study of Talloires signatories’ websites and their semiotic and signaling theory aspects across time. The source is publicly available information (time period 2014 and 2015 respectively) in context with education for sustainable development (ESD) in society and the transaction model in communication theory. It is found that some of the signatory universities in Australia exemplify a few of the Talloires ten agreed actions in their public communications, but each point is not emphasised with equal priority. The variance may be due to divergent underlying objectives; such as public communication of Talloires toward genuine benefit for the environment, or to create a strategic positioning tool to signal the university as an environmental champion within the broader society. Focusing upon secondary data from signatory university websites in Australia, the paper provides a study of higher education signification of Talloires. It assists the initial understanding of signaling theory in the public communication transactions that promote Talloires action and implementation. The findings encourage further studies of related communication issues in universities in other countries. The paper also deepens local and global understanding of perceptions of sustainability and contributes to the body of comparative literature of sustainability in higher education as a development component of strategic management of ESD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systems thinking is one of the most difficult competencies for students to acquire. Nevertheless it is one of the key competencies of education for sustainable development. Although there is relatively little research available on the link between didactic approaches and sustainability competencies, it is clear that alternative ways of teaching, such as project based learning and multi-perspective and interdisciplinary thinking and working are more effective for acquiring this competency. In this paper we explore the power of art as a way to foster systems thinking and to distinguish between different ways of thinking about sustainability. We selected two paintings, Les Jours Gigantesques by René Magritte and Sky and Water II by Maurits Escher, to explain a top-down and bottom-up approach to sustainability. The paper discusses how business students respond to art in a course on corporate social responsibility and how it helps them to understand the meaning of systems thinking. The findings reveal that these paintings are relevant for improving the comprehension of concepts related to sustainability. Moreover, they add an extra dimension to the cognitive understanding of systems thinking, i.e. enriching the whole person, reinforcing critical and creative thinking skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport is one of the sectors of the energy consumption where the presence of renewable energies is lower and its increase is hard to achieve especially in countries that import all the fuels that they consume. This paper addresses the progress that Portugal is making toward a more sustainable transport sector. A near- and medium- term scenario analysis is performed, based on the energy consumption in the past and on a detailed evaluation of the trends for renewable energy in the transport sector. The near-term scenarios aim at portraying the conditions that allow the country to fulfill the target of 10% renewable share in transportation established by the European Union. The medium-term scenarios highlight the implications, in terms of emission reduction and of energy independence, deriving from the use of electric vehicles and natural gas, synthetic and fossil, as alternatives to liquid fuels. The results show that electric vehicles would substantially reduce the total energy consumption and the greenhouse gas emissions, while the promotion of routes for synthetic natural gas would contribute to taking advantage of local resources. The paper also provides some insights about the design of future policies to build a more sustainable transport sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circular economy (CE) paradigm in its broadest sense is key to our survival as a species. Due to this critical importance, understanding its fundamental limitations is thus of significant importance. Especially understanding the losses to Nature are key as these represent the true limitation to circularity. This requires at the minimum an understanding of the thermodynamics and entropy of the losses. Most CE work as well as the many depictions to date neglect to address this in detail, the many losses are brushed aside. Many texts in CE do not use the words entropy, thermodynamics, mass and heat transfer, technology etc. which all ultimately fundamentally affect both the circularity as well as economic viability of the system. Using lead as carrier for the narrative of this paper, the state-of-the art from technology to the thermodynamics as well as heat and mass transfer, product design, modularity, environmental impact, system simulation etc. will be critically discussed. This will reveal what key knowledge and data is presently missing to achieve the economically viable circularity of materials and products. This paper identifies what should be researched and developed to “close” the circular economy system. It thus provides a “ground zero” or baseline for the evaluation of the true economic viability of the CE paradigm relative to what we are presently achieving in our linear economy paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of sustainable operations in supply chains has been widely recognised in practice and the extant literature. In this paper, we study coordination issues of a sustainable supply chain that arise due to simultaneous consideration of greening and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives undertaken by supply chain agents. We specifically consider the scenario where the supplier is responsible for greening and the buyer is accountable for social responsibility. We analyse our model using two-stage Stackelberg game-theoretic approach where the supplier acts as a Stackelberg leader. In this context, we analyse the decentralised supply chain setting using five different contract types, namely wholesale price, linear two-part tariff (LTT), greening-cost sharing, revenue sharing, and revenue and greening-cost sharing contracts (RGCS). We demonstrate how optimal greening level, CSR level, retail price and profits of supply chain agents are influenced by different contract types. Our analytical results show that greening and social efforts undertaken by supply chain agents are beneficial for the overall supply chain as long as consumer awareness towards greening and CSR exists. Our results show that channel coordinating mechanisms between supplier and buyer is conducive to improve greening and CSR level. LTT perfectly coordinates the supply chain. Through a numerical example with several key parameters we present the effectiveness of different contracts. The results reveal that as a profit maximising agent the supplier prefers LTT contract and the buyer prefers RGCS contract. This paper extends the understanding of supply chain coordination in the context of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The business models of enterprises in the global fashion industry produce highly negative outcomes for the environment. High water usage, pollution from chemical treatments used in dyeing and preparation and the disposal of large amounts of unsold stock through incineration or landfill deposits combine to make clothing one of the highest impact industries on the planet. This paper uses the sustainable logics of narrowing, slowing and closing the loop of resources used during the production, design, manufacture and distribution of fashion garments to analyse emerging business models that seek to reduce the environmental impact of the fashion system. Taking the business model conceptualization of an enterprise as a system designed to create value for the customer and capture value for the firm, we add a consideration of environmental value and derive propositions that test the possibility that emerging sustainable business models in fashion will replace the dominant, unsustainable model. The paper argues that lack of scalability, incompatibility with fashion customers value propositions plus obstacles to supply chain changes militate against the prospect of the currently designed sustainable business models becoming the standard model of the fashion industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2011, the international organisations launched the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment Framework for experts from different disciplinary fields to discuss and develop a holistic and integrated approach that supports effective sustainable development and sustainability decision-making. In response, various authors have used combinations of sustainable manufacturing methodologies and approaches to support this goal. This paper used a structured approach to a literature review to systematically examine sustainable manufacturing approaches between 2006 and 2015, and the move from segmented assessment methods to the holistic and integrated Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis. The analysis of the identified 54 relevant contributions indicated 68.5% of the articles focused on sustainable product development techniques, whereas 31.5% on sustainability assessment techniques. From the second, 70.4% of these were segmented approaches while only 29.6% incorporated the three sustainability dimensions. Further, the analysis showed that the energy aspect was incorporated into all the approaches, and there is a dearth of holistic approaches to sustainable manufacturing. Additionally, the paper initiates a theoretical framework that will underpin the development of a holistic simulation-based analytical framework that integrates goals that support progressive sustainable product development with methods that focus on the holistic quantitative analysis of the three sustainability dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current sustainability concern is causing the food supply chain to extend their focus beyond traditional economic goals to the triple bottom line approach. This paper argues for the implementation of a glocal sustainable supply chain (GSSC) in developing countries. The literature has identified antecedents and drivers for the adoption of sustainable supply chain management. However, there is relatively little research on methodological and empirical approaches that take into account the dynamic nature of developing countries and bridge the existing global/local divide. To address this gap, this paper first reviews the theoretical foundation and literature as well as the link between the sustainability of the supply chain and glocalisation; second, the supply chain is analysed and its performance according to sustainable indicators is outlined with regards to the relevance for developing economies, which proposes the GSSC model; third, the model is validated in the Dominican Republic supplies market chain and finally it illustrates the contributions of the supplies market chain to GSSC. Results show that the supplies market contributes to GSSC in multiple ways: i) with increasing flow of information and food safety; ii) by improving the coordination among supply chain members and eliminating intermediaries; and iii) by reducing food miles and closing the supply loop. This study develops a GSSC model for the sustainable management of the supply chain in developing countries and provides empirical research on the contribution of Santo Domingo supply market to GSSC. The paper contributes to a deeper theoretical and empirical research on the sustainable management of the supply chain in developing countries through the lens of glocalisation. This research encourages managers and policymakers to regulate the food supply chain performance without harming the environment while meeting social expectations. The paper concludes with limitations and further research directions within practical and theoretical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines what drives green innovation investment and exploitation with regard to sustainability. The specific focus of this paper is on company valuations of different dimensions of sustainability and their relationships to green innovation. Empirical data were gathered from a cross-section of horse industry companies located in Finland. The scientific value of the paper lies in showing that certain dimensions of sustainability lead to the exploitation of and investment in green innovation, while other dimensions do not. The results of this study's regression analyses show that the more a company values economic, institutional, and social sustainability, the more likely it is to invest in green innovation. Further, a high valuation of institutional and economic sustainability increases the willingness to exploit green innovation. The valuation of environmental sustainability was not found to affect the willingness to invest in or exploit green innovation. Our results suggest that green innovation is driven by economic and institutional pressures, and that such innovation can create value in terms of social sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's rapid urbanization growth during the past decades which has highly promoted its affluence has induced various challenges for the countryside. The problem of rural decline of quite many villages which are suffering depopulation in turn challenges the urbanization sustainability in China. By way of in-depth historical and literature review, the paper finds distorted urban-rural relationship and the tendency of village decline owing to China's long time urban biased policy. By further investigating China's new-type urbanization strategy, the paper draws concerns about future rural development which is less mentioned in the plan. It calls for ruralization and actions to revitalize the countryside so as to be adapted to China's new-type urbanization plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses sustainable business models (SBMs), as an attempt to systematically integrate corporate sustainability principles (including economic, environmental and social goals; multi-stakeholder perspective and long-term outlook) into core business. However, understanding the mechanisms for this systematic integration is still challenging, given complexities of sustainable development. Therefore, SBM concept risks that, by trying to include everything, it may end up losing meaning and connection to practical solutions. To do so, we employ a multi-method approach encompassing a systematic literature review to ensure conceptual basis for the proposed framework and thirteen qualitative interviews with practitioners for face validation of the tool. This paper proposes the Sustainable Value Exchange Matrix, a visual framework to help academics and practitioners discuss sustainable business models, based on solid theory analysis and practice-oriented application. The tool proposed provokes reflections about organization's reason of existence and deployment of this purpose into the business model dimensions from a multi-stakeholder and from a value exchange perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the Chinese government's CO 2 emissions reduction target and build a carbon trading market in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, an initial allocation of CO 2 emissions quotas among cities in this region is fundamental. Different from the previous CO 2 emissions quotas allocation methods, this paper uses the maximum deviation method (MDM) to allocate CO 2 emissions quotas in the PRD region by taking the imbalanced development of different cities into consideration. Three principles including equality (represented by a population indicator), efficiency (represented by a GDP indicator) and feasibility (represented by a historical CO 2 emissions indicator) are considered in the method. The results reveal that the allocations derived by the MDM are more balanced than those derived using either single indicator approach or the information entropy method, and more closer to the development targets of Guangdong province. The more balanced allocations will be conducive to stimulating the development of under-developed cities and narrowing the gap between developed and under-developed cities, thus help to achieve the sustainable development in the PRD region. This paper helps to enrich the emissions quotas allocation methods and provides a new equitable method for policy makers to allocate emissions quotas under imbalanced development circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Circular Economy (CE) is currently a popular notion within the policy and business advocacy groups. Despite being visionary and provocative in its message, the research on the CE concept is emerging. The two intertwined objectives of the paper are; first to identify, discuss and develop the various definitions provided by the emerging literature. Secondly, to suggest an initial research approach with which research on CE can be conducted. Our analysis shows that the existing CE work is mainly done on the practical and technical levels of the actual physical flows of materials and energy in production-consumption systems. The focus of the extant literature is on concrete metrics, tools, instruments and computations. Therefore, the basic assumptions concerning the values, societal structures, cultures, underlying world-views and the paradigmatic potential of CE remain largely unexplored. We argue that CE has already become what Gallie (1955) more than six decades ago termed as an “essentially contested concept” (ECC). The paper further suggests a model for CE research that helps in the categorization, classification and organization of research and investigation on CE. The model can help in limiting the observed unbalance and enhance the contribution of the CE approach to a more sustainable global society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To save lives and reduce suffering of victims, the focus of this paper is to design the strategies of relief distribution regarding beneficiary perspective on sustainability. This problem is formulated as a multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming model to maximize the lowest victims' perceived satisfaction, and minimize respectively the largest deviation on victims’ perceived satisfaction for all demand points and sub-phases. Then, genetic algorithm is proposed to solve this mathematical model. To validate the proposed methodologies, a case study from Wenchuan earthquake is illustrated. Computational results demonstrate genetic algorithm here can achieve the trade-off between solution quality and computation time for relief distribution with the concern of sustainability. Furthermore, it indicates that the methodology provides the tools for decision-makers to optimize the structure of relief distribution network and inventory, as well as alleviate the suffering of victims. Increasingly, this paper expects to not only validate the proposed model and method, but also highlight the importance and urge of considering beneficiary perspective on sustainability into relief distribution problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By developing and implementing environmental concerns in its principles and infrastructure, universities are becoming increasingly active in promoting societal changes towards sustainable development. These environmental concerns are translated into comprehensive and transversal environmental education programs aimed at building capacities and promoting awareness not only for students but also to the surrounding communities. This paper aims to develop a Balanced Scorecard strategy map for implementing and monitoring environmental education programs in universities. To accomplish this objective, we conducted a literature review on environmental education in higher education, finding 10 primary indicators and 40 sub-indicators needed to implement environmental education programs in universities. Fifteen experts in sustainability research were asked to evaluate these indicators and sub-indicators. Then, those indicators and expert evaluations were used to build a decision tree that supports the Balanced Scorecard. Based on our findings, we created and adapted a strategy map for environmental education based on five dimensions: sustainable development; environmental education; teaching processes and environmental management; learning and environmental growth; and economic and financial responsibility. The main contribution of this paper is to propose a theoretical proposal that can serve as a guide to implement and monitor environmental education programs in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of considerable change in the use of groundwater pattern, particularly with continuously increasing demand for groundwater due to growing population, expansion of area under irrigation and economic progress, the present paper makes an attempt to delineate groundwater potential zones using integrated remote sensing, geographic information system, and analytic hierarchy process techniques. Integration of geographic information system with analytic hierarchy process can exemplify as a process that transforms and harmonizes geographical data and weightage ranking to retrieve information for accurate decision-making. Accordingly, mapping and identification of groundwater potential zones are carried out in the Ganga Alluvial Plain of Hooghly district of India. Application of the same for Indo-Gangetic plain is made (new approach) to contribute the applicability Geographic Information System and Analytic Hierarchy Process for the delineation of groundwater potential zone. Predominant criteria (e.g., land use, land cover, soil type, geomorphology, geology, elevation, slope, rainfall, normalized difference vegetation index, drainage density, recharge rate, groundwater depth) were employed for computation of groundwater potential index. Overlay weighted sum method is applied to integrate all thematic criteria to generate groundwater potential zone map of the study area. The resulting groundwater potential index map has been classified into three groundwater potential zones, namely good, moderate and poor. Finally, groundwater potential zone map is validated using average groundwater level data from 32 wells scattered over the study area. The findings of the present paper have important implications for designing sustainable groundwater plan in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a robust methodology that assesses the environmental impacts of product systems. However, assessing its outcomes is not always easy. When decision-making must be carried out in such complex situations, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) may be applied. In this paper, the way in which MCDA techniques are being applied within the LCA context to aid results interpretation was assessed. The aim is to investigate the current framework of this integration and to map the application of MCDA and LCA according to the LCA steps, references and criteria. Thus, a research was made in SCOPUS and Web of Science databases through a specific set of key-words. As a result, 109 papers were identified. The survey demonstrate that MCDA is applied at three different times in LCA steps: at Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) to analyze trade-offs between impact categories, damage categories, or the LCA score with other dimensions; at the Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) step, to interpret aspects from inventory (such as waste generation); and at the Goal and Scope definition step to identify impact categories and aspects of LCI. MCDA is also used for LCIA development, to attribute significance to impact categories. In general, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) dimension was more recurrent, followed by Environmental and Eco-efficiency (environmental-economical) dimensions. The most common criteria were global warming, acidification and eutrophication in environmental prisms, costs and profits in economic aspects and job creation and labor security in social aspects. Results have shown mutual benefits and a clear and growing interest from the scientific community in relation to MCDA/LCA. Specific subjects to be further studied are: MCDA supporting other methodological choices, such as the allocation approach; MCDA to elicit meanings for impact categories in a way to compel stakeholders and verify geographical conditions for decision-making, and; Economic and social criteria used may contribute to Life Cycle Costing and Social LCA development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As companies and other organizations increasingly recognize society’s demand for greater social and environmental sustainability, university and college business schools have responded with new pedagogic approaches. Business schools have begun to offer courses in business models and business model innovation that focus not only on profit-normative goals but also on social and environmental goals. This paper describes an Experiential Workshop for university undergraduates in which the Service-Learning pedagogic approach is taken and Flourishing Business Canvas is applied as a tool for collaborative visual business modelling. In the Workshop, the students work with business model innovation for a biogas production cooperative of farmer-members in southern Sweden. The students take the role of problem-owners and problem-solvers as they co-create new business models ideas for the cooperative. The paper presents the students’ achievement of three Learning Objectives as they engage in meaningful, “real-world” simulations with a high degree of autonomy that allows them to combine their theoretical knowledge with practice. Implications for educators who wish to test the Experiential Workshop in their classrooms are proposed. The paper concludes with the suggestion that Education for Flourishing is a useful expansion of Education for Sustainable Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of industrial pollution has increased globally at presently. Countries across the globe are aware of the concept of sustainable implementation in industries from a local to the global level to reduce pollution. Recent research supported this by focusing on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) rather than Multinational Corporations (MNC). Sustainability development is a key to ensure control of the hazards and pollution in traditional activities. In India, many SMEs are involved in manufacturing varied products and services for customers. The auto component manufacturing sector is playing as an important role in the Indian economy by creating numerous job opportunities. Based on this, researchers gave special attention to auto components SMEs in sustainable development (SD) because of pollution which harms the environment. Analysis of SD is an essential activity for industries to ensure environmental improvement. Analyzing the indicators for SD helps confirm the development of sustainability in industries. However, analyzing the indicators for SD is a challenge for managers and needs detailed analysis and significant effort. Indicator analysis is a vague concept for managers who lack alternatives to evaluate SD in their industry. The aim of this present paper is to develop a set of measurement indicators for SD from literature. This paper, with the help of discussions with experts and Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) methodology analyzes sustainable development indicators in the auto components sectors. Fifteen SD indicators were considered for this study from a relevant literature background. These SD indicators indicate the industries’ sustainable development. Based on their interest, a questionnaire for this study was circulated among 35 leading auto components manufacturing SMEs in North India. This study will identify the influential indicator for SD based on experts' judgments through a pairwise comparison matrix. The results from the study clearly states that Indian auto component manufacturing industries believe that among the fifteen listed indicators, carbon management indicator helps in measuring sustainable development. Due to this reason, embedded or embodied carbon (SI2) indicator plays an influential role. Finally, the study concludes with insights about the future path of sustainability performance in a developing country like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the significance of international conferences for higher education institutions (HEIs)’ promotion of sustainability. The paper has undertaken a detailed review of the scientific literature on strategies of HEIs to promote sustainability, hence identifying eight HEIs strategies that these institutions can adopt to become more sustainable (developing an Institutional Agenda, promoting Research, improving Teaching, enhancing green Campus Operations, stimulating community Outreach, and promoting Knowledge Dissemination). Based on this review, and focusing on knowledge dissemination, particularly on the academic events (conferences, seminars and workshops), 69 international academic conferences on sustainability were selected for analysis (from 2012 to 2016). From these conferences 21 proved suitable for a text mining analysis due to the data availability - i.e. articles published online. These articles were organized and submitted to the Collocations Extraction process, creating a list of important terms for each conference, based on their frequency in the articles. Furthermore, the relevance of these terms was tested using the Google Trends tool, to evidence the frequency of their Google searching. Finally, two conferences were selected for a more in-depth analysis, exploring their results and contributions (REGSA and LINKS conferences) to promote sustainability. The main results of the paper outline that international conferences have become important HEIs’ strategies to promote various issues of sustainability, through sharing knowledge, experiences, projects, initiatives and methods. It can be noticed a high interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary character of these events, illustrated by the multitude of promoted topics and participation, but also an increasing interest to actively involve stakeholders in discussing and promoting sustainability and sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deformation analyzes are important for long-term monitoring of areas, where, in the first place, it is necessary to take into account human safety and environmental protection for the purpose of sustainable development of human society. The quality of the results of deformation analysis will also be affected by the quality of establishment of the geodetic network. When a new Local Geodetic Network (LGN) is established, for example, during deformation monitoring (landslides, open-pit mining, excavations, etc.) for the purpose of environmental protection, its determination can be influenced by some mistakes: a) geometric quantities measured can be contaminated by blunders, b) compatibilities of some "old" points in the area of LGN can be incorrect, c) appropriate coordinates of some new points may be defective. The case c), using two methods - Least Squares (LSM) unconstrained adjustment; - iteratively reweighted LSM of Robust Estimation, is analyzed in the paper. The main objective of this paper is to compare the adjustment of the geodetic network by the Gauss-Markov model based on GMM with full rank and robust LSM adjustment. The main adjustment steps with important numerical results are presented for both methods. The method how to detect the presence of the used wrong approximate coordinates of new network points is addressed, and the detection approaches are given for both adjustment procedures. The results of both adjustment procedures summarized in the Discussion indicate that the combination of these procedures is the most suitable way of detecting errors in a geodetic network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The grand challenge of accessing fresh water and sanitation is a global concern. The intensity of challenge depends on the geographical location as well as the level of socio-economic development of individual countries. The present paper first reviews the key water-related global trends and examines the global agenda on water issues. Next the focus is turned on Russia. Despite of being one of the water-rich countries in the world, Russia faces a number of substantial administrative and structural issues in the water sector. Therefore, it is crucial to develop a long-term strategy for the management of this infinite, but strategic resource. The present paper develops long-term scenarios and strategies for the Russian water sector towards the year 2030. The study draws upon an earlier horizon scanning activity that identified a set of global trends and uncertainties related to water sector. This horizon scanning work is extended into alternative futures for the Russian water sector by using a combination of Foresight methods including scenario analysis, data mining, and various expert methods. Scenarios developed are characterized by a set of qualitative and quantitative factors and indicators of future developments in three key domains for the water sector: (i) the sustainability of water systems; (ii) water use by households and industry; and (iii) new water products and services. Scenarios present four alternative trajectories for the water sector that may also be applied for certain countries whose water sector is comparable with the Russia. Among the scenarios developed in the study, it is concluded that the most probable ones are Problem conservation and Losses and accidents . However, there is a possibility to revert these scenarios into more desirable trajectories, which are presented in other scenarios. For instance, a variety of new clean water technologies may be widely applied to achieve the Nearly perfect future (visionary) scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the increasing awareness of the sustainability issues in the hazelnut sector in Turkey as well as its leading role in the international market, this paper provides a thorough qualitative analysis of the potential of creating a roundtable for sustainable hazelnuts, and the key success factors to consider. This is done by combining insights from the most relevant stakeholders in the hazelnut sector and the existing literature on partnerships for sustainability. The research findings show that there is potential to create a roundtable for sustainable hazelnuts. The issues in the sector are highly complex, there exist multiple interdependences among stakeholders, and potential solutions can be achieved through joint interventions. This research equips practitioners with relevant information that allows them to better understand the potential and the formation phase of a multi-stakeholder partnership for the sector, facilitating the process and increasing its chance for success in case there is a desire to create such an organization. Meanwhile, a more practical and sector-specific perspective is provided to the existing literature, particularly to that on the formation process of partnerships. In addition, the methodology followed in this paper indicates a clear and systematic approach to analyze the potential of other partnerships' formation which can be applicable to different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the potential contributions of photovoltaic energy to sustainable development in its three dimensions, environmental, economic, and social. For that purpose, the capacity deployments proposed by the main international institutions in the field are considered, mainly the International Energy Agency. The paper focuses on the monetary valuation of avoided CO 2 emissions, and the assessment of the required financial funds. The risk implied by the uncertain photovoltaic prices are dealt with, and methods to manage it are suggested. It is shown that valuing emission at a conservative price and properly discounted, would be enough to finance, on average, the required investments: thus, a low carbon tax is all that would be required to finance the investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defining sustainable cities is not straightforward. The main issues involved in urban sustainability are buildings, energy, food, green areas and landscape, mobility, urban planning, water and waste; and their improvement is promoted through different strategies. However, a quantitative method, such as life cycle thinking (LCT), is essential to evaluating these strategies. This paper reviews LCT studies related to urban issues to identify the main research gaps in the evaluation of these improvement strategies. The review identifies the main sustainability strategies associated with each urban issue and compiles articles that deal with these strategies through LCT, including environmental life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle costing (LCC), social LCA (S-LCA) and life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), as well as integrated analyses with combined tools. Water, waste and buildings are the urban issues that accounted for a larger amount of studies. In contrast, a limited number of papers assessed urban planning and energy (excluding energy in buildings). Strong interrelations among urban issues were identified, most of them including water. In terms of methods, 79% of the studies exclusively applied life cycle tools (i.e., LCA, LCC, S-LCA or LCSA). Within this group, the environmental dimension was the focus of 84% of the papers. Single environmental indicators (e.g., global warming) were common in 20% of the analyses, highlighting the need to integrate more impact categories to prevent trade-offs. In the field of social and sustainability assessment, there is a need for methodological advances that foster their application in urban areas. Further research should cover the thematic and methodological gaps identified in this paper, such as developing models that assess complex urban issues, generating comprehensive LCT studies and promoting multi-indicators. Life cycle tools might benefit from revising the methodology with stakeholders to optimize the understanding and communication of life cycle results for policy- and decision-making processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a hybrid goal programming-data envelopment analysis (GP-DEA) model in a network structure to present improvement solutions and rank units of a supply chain. The improvement solutions are presented for all efficient and inefficient units based on experts’ requirements. Therefore, the goals are considered as fuzzy values. To deal with uncertainty, a suitable fuzzy possibilistic approach is employed. Given robust optimization approach, the units of the supply chain are ranked based on penalties of deviations from goals as feasibility robustness and also the average and standard deviation of deviations as optimality robustness. One advantage of the proposed model is that it can determine balancing values and improvement solutions for flows among the units of a supply chain which have dual-roles factors so that the deviations from their goals are minimized. The proposed robust network GP-DEA model is run in a case study. The outcome of this paper can be used to evaluate and rank all types of supply chains with different network structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are substantial benefits by using an adequate strategy in order to reach competitive advantage, little attention has been given to the strategy formulation process for environmental sustainability. The aim of this research is to propose a basic model to formulate strategy for companies that compete pursuing the sustainable environmental development. Based on a literature research of 231 papers, 14 papers were selected and analyzed in detail using content analysis. These papers were categorized into 10 strategy perspectives and compared to the criteria of the Fields and Weapons of the Competition model. From this comparison, a basic process of strategy formulation was devised. The originality and practical implications of this research is to present a basic, adaptable model that can guide entrepreneur, executives and leaders in the process of strategy formulation for sustainable environmental development, especially in times when companies become surrounded by so many environmental sustainable initiatives that confuse rather than guide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability concerns have increasingly gained importance among organizations and their stakeholders around the world. In this context, eco-efficiency has become a consistent tool towards the transition to sustainable development and the efforts of eco-efficiency indicators have been used for comparative studies and decision-making tasks, providing better financial, environmental, and social performance. The aim of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review on the theme of sustainable development from the perspective of eco-efficiency, with the adaptation of the Knowledge Development Process intervention instrument - constructivist (ProKnow-C). The paper identifies and structures the state-of-the-art between Eco-Efficiency and Sustainable Development with a view to: (i) selecting a Bibliographic Portfolio (BP) that is aligned with the perception of the researchers on the theme; (ii) performing a bibliometric analysis of the selected BP; (iii) performing a thematic synthesis; (iv) finding the integration of eco-efficiency and sustainable development with other approaches; (v) proposing an innovative framework to achieve sustainable development through eco-efficiency indicators; and (vi) finding paths for further research. This research makes multiple new contributions, providing both academics and practitioners a better panorama to achieve sustainable development through eco-efficiency by expanding the literature review, highlighting the synergies and barriers between eco-efficiency and sustainable development and by comparing and analysing them, showing its relevant features. In addition, we synthesized the contributions of the BP according to the BASF indicators, sustainable dimensions and four measurement levels: industry, organization, project and process to better describe the current academic scenario on the subject. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban and Regional Integrated Energy Planning is crucial to define transition strategies toward sustainable development and post-carbon cities; particularly, in the built environment sector which is one of the main responsible for energy consumption and carbon emissions. The paper aims at offering a systematic review of existing urban and regional energy planning approaches. This analysis is based on literature review. The reviewed papers are critically analyzed and discussed through a Meta-analysis and a SWOT analysis. The papers are classified in order to highlight the main research trends and to illustrate the most relevant characteristics of the principal approaches. This critical analysis of the papers highlights the lack of an holistic and integrated framework which is able to take into account the large variety of dimensions related to sustainable planning. A major achievement of this study is to provide information on how the various existing approaches can be integrated to handle the entire planning procedure adequately. The result provides a preliminary theoretical framework to integrate different approaches, identify the main barriers and future challenges in the field of research. This framework will help urban actors to develop energy planning projects, guiding them in the choice among a significant number of existing planning approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alternative fuel vehicles (AFV) are a promising alternative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector and ultimately, to contribute to a more sustainable society. Within the current commitments of the Brazilian Government to international agreements, in terms of emissions reductions by 2030, some new policies have been implemented, in order to incentivize the diffusion of AFV in the country. Yet, how will these policies contribute to the goal of increasing its fleet in the long-term, how long will it take and what are the differences (if any) among the policies, in terms of their effectiveness, are questions that remain unanswered. In this sense, the main aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of public policies in the long-term diffusion dynamics of AFV in Brazil. In order to do so, a system dynamics model is developed, based on the Generalized Bass Diffusion model, the Cobb-Douglas function and the learning curve theory. The model is used to test four different policies and some uncertainties related to: (i) the exemption of the import duty; (ii) the reduction of the motor vehicle property tax; (iii) the exemption of the tax on manufacturing goods; and (iv) a banning regulation for internal combustion engine vehicles in the long-term. The results highlight the importance of the current incentive policies but at the same time call for reinforcing efforts in order to increase the AFV fleet to significant values by 2030. Conversely, the banning regulation obtains a higher diffusion rate, but only achieves significant values by 2060. The paper concludes by showing the main contributions and policy implications of the effectiveness of the four policies studied as well as some suggestions for future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]