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Campaigns by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pressuring companies to adopt sustainability standards have caught academic interest in recent years. Critics of this approach toward increasing biodiversity protection and social justice argue that campaign successes are often short-lived while proponents emphasize the potential of NGO campaigns to achieve positive environmental and social change in the absence of governmental legislation. Focusing on the recent forest conservation policy of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a leading pulp and paper company operating in Southeast Asia, we analyze the challenges companies face in implementing sustainability commitments made as a result of NGO and market pressure. Drawing from research on policy implementation and corporate greening we identify key activities to help entrench APP's commitments in the company's operations. Furthermore, we suggest that a range of actions by different stakeholder groups can achieve broader effects of APP's commitments toward better environmental and social stewardship in the region's pulp and paper sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing pressure from governments and stakeholders has motivated the study of sustainability assessment in the supply chain context at operational, tactical, and strategic levels. Several papers have been published during the last two decades, and the number is still rising. Although several authors present complex models that include environmental and social assessment, the applicability and usefulness of these works is often limited by lack of data availability and lack of consensus in what is to be measured on implementations of sustainable practices and strategies. This paper presents a systematic literature review of works addressing the supply chain network design (SCND) problem, in which at least two of the three dimensions of sustainability are assessed. This paper aims to identify indicators that are used when sustainability is evaluated in real applied cases. A total of 113 papers from 2015 to 2018 were selected, including documents studying forward, reverse, and closed loop supply chains (CLSC). Indicators in the economic, environmental, and social dimensions were classified according to an existing framework in the sustainable supply chain literature. The review finds a highlighted emphasis on environmental considerations; social criteria are still hardly studied. The study country origin analysis also shows an increasing concern for sustainable practices in developing economies, mainly in Asia. Finally, this paper presents a brief description of the areas where research opportunities exist, including sectors, measures, and methodologies to assess sustainability in the SCND problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Evidence suggests that manufacturing companies have tried to address the current environmental challenges derived from their operations by implementing various operational environmental sustainability approaches, including green manufacturing (GM), cleaner production (CP), green lean (GL), green supply chain management (GSCM), reverse logistics (RLs) and circular economy (CE). However, although their adoption is well documented in developed nations and few other countries, very little has been done to understand such phenomenon in a rapid developing country such as Thailand. This paper aims at filling this gap by providing light into some fundamental issues regarding the implementation of these approaches in the manufacturing sector of Thailand. A survey-based exploratory research was carried out based on 287 Thai manufacturing companies. The data was analysed using a combination of descriptive and inferential statics. The study revealed that a large amount of investment capacity, and proper training & knowledge are needed to fully implement the studied operational approaches. This resulted in some of the weakest elements of Thai manufacturing firms and hence the main barriers to their implementation. The study also showed that Thai manufacturing firms consider the impact on the environment and benefits from adopting these operational approaches as company's policy and own initiative, environmental awareness, and cost saving from conservation of energy as the main reasons for adopting the studied operational approaches. Finally, the findings also indicate that Thai manufacturing firms tend to implement them because of internal factors and that they lack of motivation from external factors and involvement from other stakeholders. The paper extends the current limited knowledge on the deployment of operational environmental sustainability approaches in Asia, and its results can be beneficial for organisations that aim at effectively adopting them to improve their operation's sustainability. Highlights • Evidence of the implementation of sustainability approaches in Thailand is limited. • Paper provides light into fundamental issues regarding their adoption. • 287 Thai manufacturing companies participated in this survey-based exploratory study. • Study reveals degree of implementation, main drivers and barriers of the studied approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the nexus between greenhouse gas, financial development, energy consumption, trade and urbanization in 34 upper middle income countries from Asia, Europe, Africa and America (South and North) by using panel data from 2001 to 2014. Vector error correction model explored different results for different regions such as the causality of greenhouse gas for Europe and America; financial development for Asia; trade openness for Asia, Europe and America; and urbanization for Africa and America. The causality of greenhouse gas emission was bi-directional with urbanization in America and trade in Europe. The bi-directional causality of trade was observed with financial development in Asia and urbanization in Africa. The generalized method of moment and fully modified ordinary least square explored a direct association of per capita greenhouse gas emission with financial development in Europe; energy consumption in all panels, and renewable energy in Africa and America. But, the relationship of per capita emission was reciprocal with financial development in Asia, Africa and America; renewable energy in Europe; trade in Europe, Africa and America; and urbanization in Asia, Europe and America. The relationship of variables changes from region to region and country to country. A country-based reciprocal effect on per capita greenhouse gas was observed for financial development, renewable energy, trade openness and urbanization for different countries. This paper provides an insight to policy makers to re-structure the financial system, energy usage pattern, trade and urbanization in accordance with the cleaning of environment at country and regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food production is an important source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Quantifying the carbon footprint of all the major food categories in different continents is critical for accurately evaluating various aspects of GHG emissions from food production on a continental and global scale. Such information, however, is lacking. Thus, we conducted a meta-analysis of plant-based and animal-based food production in all continents comprehensively using 5353 carbon footprint values from 524 published papers and calculated GHG emissions from food production (system boundary is from cradle to farm gate) at the continental and global scale. Our results indicate that the average carbon footprint of plant-based foods amounts to 0.66 kg CO 2 -eq kg−1, which is only 10.7% of animal-based foods (6.15 kg CO 2 -eq kg−1). The carbon footprint of plant-based food in Asia and Europe is 8.9%–184% higher than that of other continents. Africa has the lowest carbon footprint for plant-based foods, owing to its low agricultural input and limited crop management. However, the carbon footprint of animal-based foods in Africa and Asia is 2.5%–150% higher than that of other continents, with North America and Oceania recording the lowest. Total annual GHG emission from global food production reached 8125 Mt CO 2 -eq, with grains, meat, and milk together accounting for 70.8%. Asia, owing to its large production, emerged as the largest emitter, accounting for 55.4% of global GHG emissions. It was followed by Europe (16.3%) and North America (10.5%), while Africa, South America and Oceania together emit 17.8%. In summary, our study presents the most comprehensive account of the carbon footprint of food production at the continental and global scale to-date, which will help develop strategies and policies to reduce GHG emissions at various levels such as geographical regions, food and nutrition security, resource availability and resource use. • Plant-based food carbon footprint (CF) < 89% than that of animal-based food. • Plant-based food CF in Asia and Europe up to >184% than that of other regions. • Animal-based food CF in Africa, Asia up to >150% than that of other regions. • Global food production GHG emission is 8125 Mt CO 2 yr−1. • Asia emits 55% of global food GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The growing cities in developing Asia require a massive provision of infrastructure, public transportation, housing and jobs for their population, as well as a healthy environment. On the other hand, urban Asia contributes increasingly to climate change, and suffers its impacts. The climate co-benefits approach in this paper refers to the development and implementation of policies and strategies that simultaneously contribute to addressing climate change and solving local environmental problems, which also have other development impacts. The co-benefits approach is important especially for developing countries, which have to overcome many challenges simultaneously with limited capacities and resources. Thus, the objective of this paper is to examine the main obstacles, opportunities and challenges to implementation of environmental co-benefit related policies in urban areas. The paper focuses primarily upon sub-national processes, particularly in cities in developing countries, but the research also looked into the links of sub-national processes to national and international processes. The paper relies on the results of research done in China, Indonesia and India. It offers a series of lessons for understanding initiatives that generated co-benefits and the factors that influence them. This paper provides insight on successful ways to promote, design and implement the urban co-benefits approach in urban areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

South Asian countries are the main players in the recycling industry, there are problems linked to contamination, occupational health, and procedures that are not sustainable. Due to recent regulations in the recycling industry, shipyards outside Asia with sustainable practices can be authorized by the European Union to participate in this market. Considering the fact that, Brazilian shipyards have not been contracting for new ship orders, their production capacity could be used to ship recycling. Then, the novelty of this paper's contribution is that it is the first study to examine the legal, technical, and economic aspects of ship recycling for Brazilian shipyards. The research strategy adopted was based data collected from ships recycled in south Asia in 2016 and the Brazilian fleet with the potential to be recycled over the next 25 years. Semi-structured interviews with maritime sector professionals, as well as shipyard stakeholders and ship owners, were conducted to identify the perception of this activity in Brazil. A statistical descriptive analysis was conducted and an estimate of global market value was determined considering the ships recycled. The findings indicate that, in 2016, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, and China were responsible for 96.64% of the global market. In the same year, approximately 27 ships were recycled out of South Asia showing a change in the predominant countries in ship recycling. The potential Brazilian fleet to be recycled over the next 25 years represents approximately 340 ships with an estimated market value of US $587 million. Brazilian shipyards are an environmentally and technically qualified industry, with an idle capacity of ±900,000 Tons per year. However, local and international stakeholders suggest that Brazilian shipyards need to acquire expertise and expand feasibility studies to develop ship recycling locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize Malaysia’s vision of becoming a developed country by the year 2020, rapid urbanization and development have taken place in many parts of the country. Despite vast development in Malaysia, the country experiences a myriad of water shortage issues. Therefore, Malaysia needs to carefully manage its freshwater resources to achieve sustainable development. Greywater has proven to be a useful substitute for fresh water for non-potable activities. This paper reviews examples of greywater recycling that have been successfully implemented globally, and identifies constraints of implementing greywater recycling systems for use in Malaysia. Greywater represents 43–70% of total domestic wastewater volume, and reusing greywater for irrigation may have adverse long-term impacts on soil. Greywater should be treated and disinfected before reuse, and can be disinfected via chlorine, UV, or ozone disinfection. Chlorine disinfection is recommended as chlorine is widely available and inexpensive. Malaysia lacks strategies for kick starting greywater recycling projects. To overcome obstacles, Malaysia could establish a moderate treated greywater quality standard (pH 6–9, TSS < 20 mg/L, <5 NTU, BOD 5 < 20 mg/L and <10 CFU/100 mL of E. coli ) for urban reuse and initiate greywater recycling efforts by recycling low strength greywater from ablution activities and bathrooms. Last but not least, researchers and local authorities could work closely to monitor the greywater recycling systems, while the latter could provide subsidies and rebates to financially support the implementation of the greywater recycling system and eventually achieve the goal of water sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the risk transmissions across the green economy indices of three major regions which include US, Europe and Asia. The econometric analyses are conducted using DCC-GARCH and TVP-VAR connectedness approach to evaluate potential spillover effects within the context of oil and gold. Results indicate that green economy indices of US-Europe exhibit the greatest time-varying correlations among the three pairs during much of 2010–2022 consistent with that of the general equity market. However, co-movements during the COVID-19 pandemic period seem to display a change in pattern for green economy indices. The strength of the co-movements between the US and Europe displayed a declining trend, while that between US and Asia was strengthened, suggesting greater interdependence between these two markets. TVP-VAR connectedness analysis revealed that US and Europe dominate the transmission of the shocks across the years in the green economy, similar to that of the equity markets. However, during the pandemic a pronounced shift occurred in green economies when considering the risk transmissions within the context of commodities: oil and gold. While Asian green economy index was persistently a receiver of risk transmission from oil unlike the other two regions, since pandemic, oil displayed an asymmetric effect and has become the net transmitter of risk in negative returns of the green economies of US and Europe. This may reflect the diversion in environmental policies of the two regions in the recent past, and point to the dominance of energy sector in the green economy. These findings have substantial implications for the development of green economy policies and from an investment perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the risk transmissions across the green economy indices of three major regions which include US, Europe and Asia. The econometric analyses are conducted using DCC-GARCH and TVP-VAR connectedness approach to evaluate potential spillover effects within the context of oil and gold. Results indicate that green economy indices of US-Europe exhibit the greatest time-varying correlations among the three pairs during much of 2010–2022 consistent with that of the general equity market. However, co-movements during the COVID-19 pandemic period seem to display a change in pattern for green economy indices. The strength of the co-movements between the US and Europe displayed a declining trend, while that between US and Asia was strengthened, suggesting greater interdependence between these two markets. TVP-VAR connectedness analysis revealed that US and Europe dominate the transmission of the shocks across the years in the green economy, similar to that of the equity markets. However, during the pandemic a pronounced shift occurred in green economies when considering the risk transmissions within the context of commodities: oil and gold. While Asian green economy index was persistently a receiver of risk transmission from oil unlike the other two regions, since pandemic, oil displayed an asymmetric effect and has become the net transmitter of risk in negative returns of the green economies of US and Europe. This may reflect the diversion in environmental policies of the two regions in the recent past, and point to the dominance of energy sector in the green economy. These findings have substantial implications for the development of green economy policies and from an investment perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scaling the social impact of inclusive business models that provide solutions to basic needs of Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP) communities through firm-centric approaches has proven challenging. Researchers have proposed that scaling strategies at the BoP should go beyond firm-centric approaches by inclusive businesses and involve coordinated synergistic action of their entire ecosystem to overcome systemic challenges and create value for all ecosystem actors. However, current research on this topic remains abstract and difficult to implement. This paper presents an empirically validated scaling framework designed to overcome this weakness and documents its design process. The framework takes account of the fact that inclusive businesses must work out scaling strategies together with key ecosystem actors, and that implementing a scaling strategy will almost always require mutual adaptation of business models. The framework design process entailed an extensive literature review and practitioner interviews as a first step, followed by testing, evaluation and iterative improvement through a series of validation workshops with actors of four inclusive business initiatives in Africa and Asia. The results indicate that the framework helps workshop participants to expand their mental frame, encouraging them to adopt a broader ecosystems perspective on scaling. This leads to identification and exploration of valuable business model adaptations for scaling that can be achieved through collaboration and assessment of the practical feasibility of different scaling strategies. [Display omitted] • Inclusive businesses at the Base of the Pyramid need ecosystem scaling for impact. • Scaling strategies need to be developed collaboratively with key ecosystem actors. • Strategies should entail mutual beneficial business model adaptations. • Collaborative sustainable business modelling can inspire scaling strategy development. • Framework application facilitates a business model ecosystem perspective on scaling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finance has become a crucial agenda in climate change negotiations in recent years. Meanwhile, multilateral negotiations on climate change as a whole are making meager progress, and increasingly observed are activities by national governments and transnational non-state actors. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how investment towards low-carbon development could be materialized in Asia. A thorough review of current financial assistance for developing countries in Asia was conducted, and the amount of funding proved to be relatively modest to achieve the aim. We then examined financial policy instruments that could be implemented in the region. We estimated that USD125–149 billion per year would be needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region by 2035. We also estimated that more than a half of this amount of funding could be achieved by public sector if several key policy instruments were agreed upon and enacted at regional and national levels in Asia. The role of private sector investment was also found to be indispensable in fulfilling all the long-term investment needs related to climate mitigation in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses annual data to detect the nexus between urbanization, energy use, and carbon emissions in a panel of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries spanning the period 1980–2009. The study contributes to the increasing empirical literature by investigating the effects of urbanization and detecting causal links between the variables. Results from the Pedroni panel cointegration tests show evidence for the existence of a long-term equilibrium relationship between urbanization, energy use, and carbon emissions for the ASEAN countries. Using the panel fully modified ordinary least squares technique, the effect of urbanization on carbon emissions is further revealed; i.e., a 1% rise in urban population results in a 0.20% increase in carbon emissions. Unilateral short-run causal relationships from urbanization to energy use and from urbanization to carbon emissions have been found by Granger causality tests. Also, the results clearly indicate that in the long term, urbanization together with energy use Granger causes carbon emissions. The paper concludes with main findings and provides recommendations toward rational planning of urban development and energy-efficiency improvement strategies for the ASEAN countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from conventional solid waste management in developing Asian countries contribute significantly to global climate change. This paper argues that moving towards Integrated Solid Waste Management (ISWM) offers a practical solution for mitigating these GHG emissions and for realising socio-economic as well as other environmental benefits. The study assesses the GHG emissions of an existing ISWM system in Muangklang Municipality, Thailand as compared to conventional treatment from a life cycle perspective. The integrated system which recovers nutrients, materials and energy from the waste stream, and reduces landfill disposal of organic and recyclable waste was found to have reduced GHG emissions very significantly compared to conventional landfill disposal, which is currently the most common waste treatment technology in Thailand. Among the individual technologies assessed, materials recycling was found to offer the largest reductions in GHG emissions from a life-cycle perspective. The calculations indicate that a properly designed integrated system with high but fully realistic recovery rates can drastically reduce the climate impact of waste management. Most municipalities in developing Asia are small-to-medium scale and share many characteristics with Muangklang. Therefore, the authors argue that most municipalities in the region could apply this type of low-cost locally adapted ISWM system. This would have numerous sustainability benefits, including drastically reduced GHG emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Due to the rapid growth of urban population and economic development in Asia recently, many cities have encountered severe challenges responding to environmental pollution at local and global levels. This Special Volume of the Journal of Cleaner Production reports on the results of several studies in cities across Asia, which were designed to investigate the potential of climate co-benefits approaches. These studies were implemented across the key urban sectors of waste management, transport and buildings as well as industry. They are complemented by two analyses of the institutional framework, barriers and opportunities for planning for co-benefits in the larger countries in the region: India and China. The fifteen articles in this Special Volume show that tangible urban co-benefits can be achieved from initiatives performed at the local level to address climate change issues. They also provide critical insights on how to catalyze co-benefits in urban development, by embedding climate change mitigation at the local level. By collating promising development activities and policies in different sectors from various Asian countries, this volume presents an overview of how local level actions can enhance developmental impacts. The final paper connects these insights with respect to the emerging green economy paradigm to consider how such policies, if properly coordinated, can create powerful synergies for addressing both local environmental quality and global carbon impacts and how to track this through the governance framework. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The problems posed by municipal solid waste in Asia are more complex because here, most nations urbanize rapidly with about 30–50% population increase. In developing countries, the growth rate of most cities exceeds 4% per annum. The issue at stake is that the 20–40% of municipal revenues spent in most countries to manage the waste is not enough to handle the rising trend of the waste generated. The problems are multi-dimensional. In Asia for example, issues ranging from disputes, norms, health concerns have continued to create obstacles and sometimes alarming situations. This had interfered with proper decisions in managing the waste that menaces the environment at a pace faster than the modern technology itself. In the paper some of the municipal solid waste management options are reviewed in some of these Asian countries with emphasis on a life cycle assessment (LCA) to adopt an integrated approach in solving the problem. Some solid waste management options were evaluated where some viable and suitable options could be derived based on Asian approach. Therefore, sustainable scenarios are suggested for stakeholders to manage municipal solid waste properly. The results are specifically intended to be used as a basis for decisions on strategies and policies for waste management and investments for new waste treatment facilities by decision makers in local, regional and national authorities or industries in the region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The decreasing of Arctic sea ice provides opportunities for commercial shipping between Asia and Europe due to its shorter distance. However, the Arctic environment is vulnerable to the pollutants from shipping activities. Therefore, it is important to consider the impacts of shipping activities in the Northern Sea Route (NSR), especially with a view to the possibility of reducing emissions of short-lived pollutants. In this paper, modelling of a hybrid propulsion system is conducted and implemented in Matlab Simulink. A 3-level control strategy with efficiency of power sources taken into consideration, is applied to ensure stability of voltage and frequency, as well as reducing the pollutants through minimizing the fuel consumption. A target journey with specific loading condition, which is related to NSR shipping, has been conducted to test the performance of the hybrid propulsion system with the 3-level control strategy and diesel electric system, the simulation results of the hybrid propulsion system applied with the three-level control strategy in this research can offer up to 22.7% fuel savings compared with a DC diesel electric system over a typical operating cycle. This justifies the use of hybrid propulsion as a more environmentally friendly propulsion system for the future ice-capable ships in the NSR. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to find the main factors, which influence fuel consumption. • Novel application of hybrid propulsion to an ice-capable ship. • Advanced 3-level control strategy is developed for power sources working optimally. • Significant fuel consumption saving when compared with a diesel electric system. • Emission reduction avoiding further damage to sensitive Arctic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric Vehicles (EV) powered by portable batteries address two important deployment challenges in countries in Europe and Asia, where most people live in high-rise buildings. First is the issue of a lack of power-charging infrastructure, where an American-style charging model that operates in the garage of a detached or attached single-family residence is not practical. Second is the range-anxiety problem, as it is much easier to take portable batteries to nearby public facilities for recharging, such as restaurants and cafes. The modularity of portable batteries further enables better battery-to-vehicle interoperability across different auto makes, brands and manufacturers, thus, faster and easier EV deployment. In this paper, we show that such a portable modular battery development scenario for EVs can be accomplished, within the realm of current technologies, over the next few years. This can be done with the help of thin film photovoltaic cells embedded in automobile windows and a carefully optimized charging strategy. We propose a modeling framework to plot the EV battery technology frontier, where such a scenario is feasible, and derive the optimal sizing of modular batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the environmental efficiency, productivity, and shadow price of carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions of 52 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries for 2005–2016. We consider the case of three inputs (Energy, Labor and Capital), one desirable output (GDP), and one undesirable output (CO 2 emissions). The contribution of this paper is that we use the endogenous directional distance function (DDF) to construct environmental efficiency and sequential productivity indicators. The benefit of this approach is that we can both avoid the influence of arbitrary mapping rules and capture the progressive nature of the technology. The results show that the technical efficiency of Eastern Asia increased continuously during the sample period, while those of the other regions did not show a significant trend, indicating that Eastern Asia was catching up with the frontier faster than the rest of the regions. The average shadow prices of CO 2 emissions for all the BRI countries increased steadily over the sample period, but the shadow prices of Eastern Europe and Central Asia are much higher than those of the other regions. The average productivity of the BRI countries improved for most periods, mainly because of technological progress. Moreover, the technical changes for the six regions during the sample period are all positive, meaning that technology progress is universal for the BRI countries, especially for those in Eastern Asia. The results of this study have important policy implications for carbon reduction in the BRI countries. • The technical efficiency of Eastern Asia increased continuously during 2005–2016. • The reduction potential of CO2 emissions for BRI countries is substantial. • The discrepancy between inefficient BRI countries and their efficient counterparts has increased. • The average shadow price of CO2 emissions for BRI countries has increased during 2005–2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has increased the economic growth of many developing countries in Asia, more attention should be paid to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in these regions. Based on the Tapio decoupling model and Kaya-LMDI model, this paper investigates the spatiotemporal evolution of decoupling and driving factors of CO2 emissions of 57 BRI countries from 1991 to 2016. The results are as follows. First, the decoupling statuses of higher income countries are generally better than lower income countries. Second, Northeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia accounted for 68.5%, 16.8%, and 13.3% of CO2 emission increases in BRI countries from 1991 to 2016. Third, almost all countries' CO2 emissions significantly rise due to economic growth, while energy intensity reduces CO2 emissions to some extent. Energy exports increase CO2 emissions to varying degrees in Asia countries, but their impact has gradually fallen. Except for Europe, the population size effect increases CO2 emissions, especially in West Asia. China, India, Russia, and five OPEC countries show similar characteristics with the above regions. • The Tapio decoupling model is applied to analyze the CO 2 decoupling of 57 Belt and Road Initiative countries. • Five driving forces of CO 2 emissions are identified via the Kaya-LMDI model. • Spatiotemporal characteristics of decoupling and driving forces are highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]