Search

Although technological innovation plays a critical role in promoting sustainable development and environmental sustainability, there are few studies in the existing literature that address this relationship. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between technological innovation (TI), renewable energy consumption (REC), natural resource rent (NRR) and ecological footprint (EF) of E-7 countries (i.e. Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and Turkiye) from 1992 to 2018 in order to ensure environmental sustainability in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Analysis was performed using the ARDL estimator, robustness test and Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality (DHC) test. Long-term empirical estimates from the PMG-ARDL technique have shown that a 1 % increase in TI and REC reduces EF by 0.064 % and 0.234 %, respectively, i.e. increases environmental sustainability. At this point, it is possible to say that TI and REC contribute to the achievement of SDG-7 and 13 in E-7 countries while NRR and real income (GDP) were found to impede the achievement of SDG-7 and 13 in E-7 countries through an increase in EF. The results were confirmed using robustness techniques. In the DHC test results, while there is a unidirectional causality from TI to EF, from EF to NRR and trade openness, a bidirectional causality was found between GDP and EF. This study suggests that policymakers should focus on introducing environmentally friendly equipment to reduce environmental degradation, increase the share of RECs and focus on sustainable development within the framework of the SDGs. • We explore nexus between technological innovation affect the ecological footprint in E-7 economies. • Adoption of second-generational panel econometrics techniques. • Technological innovation and renewable energy consumption help in mitigating climate change. • Green growth policies should be pursued in E7 energy mix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Circular economy (CE) is gaining popularity at different levels with the promise of creating more sustainable processes. In this context, cities are implementing a number of initiatives that aim to turn them into sustainable circular systems. Whether these initiatives achieve their sustainability goals, however, is largely unknown. Nevertheless, as the application of CE strategies is actively encouraged by many policies across the globe, there is a need to quantify the environmental impacts and to identify the strategies that support urban sustainability. This paper analyses the extent to which research focuses on quantifying the environmental balance of CE initiatives promoted at the municipal level. To this end, the analysis scanned CE initiatives reported in cities around the globe and classified them into urban targets and CE strategies. In parallel, the paper conducted a review of the literature that uses industrial ecology tools to account for the environmental impacts of CE strategies. Results show a diverse geographical representation, as reported cities concentrated in Europe, whereas for environmental research, the main results came from China. In general, cities encourage strategies relating to urban infrastructure (47%), with and additional focus on social consumption aspects, such as repair and reuse actions. In comparison, research mainly addressed industrial and business practices (58%), but the approach to infrastructure was similar to that of cities, both with a special interest in waste management. Research has yet to assess social consumption and urban planning strategies, the latter essential for defining the impacts of other urban elements. Hence, there is a need to define the environmental impacts of the strategies that cities select in their quest for circularity. Research and practice can also benefit from working collaboratively so as to prioritize the CE strategies that best fit into the features of each urban area. [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]

For the last ten years, the notion of a green economy has become increasingly attractive to policy makers. However, green economy covers a lot of diverse concepts and its links with sustainability are not always clear. In this article, we focus on definitions of green economy and related concepts and an evaluation of these concepts against the criterion of strong and weak sustainability. The article serves three purposes: Firstly, we identify and describe diverse theories, concepts, approaches and tools related to a “green economy”. Among these are the theories of environmental economics and ecological economics, the concepts and approaches of cleaner production, waste hierarchy, bio-economy, industrial ecology, circular economy, nature-based solutions, and dematerialization through product-servicizing, and tools like life cycle assessment, and cost-benefit analysis. Secondly, we develop a framework that shows the capacity of the green economy concepts, approaches and tools to support the transition towards sustainability. Such a framework can serve as a heuristic to embed diverse concepts and approaches into a green economy framework. Thirdly, we briefly discuss green economy concepts with respect to their impact on strong and weak sustainability. Depending on the different concepts, approaches and tools identified in the green economy framework, different degrees of substitutability and trade-offs between environmental and economic benefits are allowed, and more or less structural changes of our modes of living are required. By discussing the notion of green economy and related concepts, approaches and tools we seek to make a contribution to their definitions and relationships as a prerequisite for operationalizing green economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a broad consensus on the contribution of the so-called eco-innovations to the sustainability transition of economic activity and on the power of policy instruments to redirect innovation towards solving environmental challenges over time. However, despite remarkable academic efforts in this direction, there is a shortage of studies empirically analysing the link between environmental policy and innovation activities. Using firm-level data gathered from the Community Innovation Surveys of two specific years, 2008 and 2014, from eleven European countries, we apply a difference-in-difference approach to provide a clear-cut test of the effects of Phase III of the EU's Emissions Trading System on low-carbon innovations of energy-intensive firms. Our results suggest that environmental policy may affect firms' environmental performance by improving eco-innovating efforts. In fact, the new environmental policy not only induced an adaptive response , in which firms adjust their level of emissions to this new cost scheme, it also induced a creative response , leading companies to move outside of the range of their existing practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty in economic policies and regulations incentivizes firms to delay investments in environmental research and developments (R&D) or postpone environmental projects that are costly to undo. A consequence of those decisions is that firms innovate less for the environment. Using 1026 U.S. firm data (equivalent to 13,241 firm-year observations) this study shows that a negative effect of policy uncertainty – a drop in environmental innovation – does not surface in the short term but in the longer term, i.e., in 5–6 years' time. The negative effect, nevertheless, dissipates after six years. These findings are of relevance to other developed countries as well as emerging countries that have a relatively higher uncertainty in their economic policies and regulations. In sum, the results call for attention from governments and regulators around the world: uncertainty in policies and regulations are detrimental to combating climate change and promoting environmental sustainability . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of spatial planning for sustainable development has been widely acknowledged in academia and in policy. Monitoring spatial plans increases knowledge of whether they achieved their goals in guaranteeing sustainable development on a territorial level. Indicators are suited for this task and could play an important role in determining the applicability or effectiveness of plans. The contribution of indicator sets for effective strategic sustainability monitoring needs to be supported by an analysis of consistency and meaning at each stage of indicator development, from design to implementation. Indicator selection is usually done by experts and/or through participatory approaches and often little is known about the robustness of the selection stage, its utility, accuracy, validity, feasibility and redundancy. The main goal of this research is to identify, through a participatory approach and data reduction techniques, a set of sustainability indicators for strategic monitoring of regional spatial plans. Decision makers and planning practitioners from regional and local authorities, as well as academics, were asked to assess through a scoring procedure the importance of a base set of sustainability indicators to monitor the effects of a spatial plan. Principal Components Analysis, followed by sensitivity analysis with Monte Carlo simulation were used in the data reduction phase. This approach was tested on a set of outcomes/effects indicators developed for the Algarve's regional spatial plan (southern Portugal). It was possible to highlight the importance of involving different groups of stakeholders and to identify relevant indicator selection criteria, as well as a final set of indicators that are more representative of different stakeholders' opinions and more able to translate, in an integrated way, overall changes in sustainability performance. Factors that can influence the results of the approach are discussed, such as stakeholder representativeness and data availability. Recommendations regarding the use of the approach and its results are also presented, for example concerning the use of information conveyed by indicators in an aggregated way, in the form of an index. The approach could be useful to guide the collection of regional sustainability data, contributing to the reporting and assessment of spatial plans, tailored to each particular territorial reality and stakeholders' perceptions, values, needs and concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This articles argues that extraction and emission caps are a promising strategy for a sustainable degrowth transition, but that their design and implementation is far from simple. We draw attention to the institutional structures and processes through which caps are to be set, designed and enforced, and discuss the danger of eco-authoritarian politics in the name of enforcing caps or other environmental limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production focuses on “Energy for Sustainable Future”. It is designed to mirror the increasing relevance of renewable energy sources and improved efficiency as crucial topics for practitioners in industry, for governmental policy makers, as well as for civic service providers, researchers, and educators. The purpose of this special issue is to serve as a catalyst for dialogue. The global warming related to CO2 emissions, coupled with steeply rising energy prices and the recent global financial institutional melt-down are causing massive societal concerns and give rise to increasing demand for ways to improve societal and individual energy efficiency and for ways to shift increasingly to alternative, low or non-carbon based energy systems. Until recently, industrial energy efficiency improvements have focused on improvements on efficiency rather than on the integration of renewable sources. The aim of this special issue is the identification of policies to support the development and implementation of technologies and management approaches we can employ to make the transition to more sustainable societies. The collection of papers in this special issue provide a foundation for students, researchers, scholars, practitioners and policy makers interested in making sustainable development more than a metaphor. The papers include focus upon ways for: [(a)] Improving industrial process to achieve improvements in energy efficiency. [(b)] Minimising waste disposals and reducing their impact through better management. [(c)] Reducing CO2 emissions by making progress toward lower carbon, renewable energy based systems, [(d)] Improving production of biofuels and hydrogen production systems, facilitated by employing cleaner production and novel LCA tools. [(e)] Improving integration of advanced materials and energy efficient equipment in different industrial sectors. Current and future developments in national and world economies are closely connected to sustainable, efficient and safe usage of raw materials and upon energy based on cleaner production concepts and approaches that are ecologically and economically appropriate for the short and for the long-term future of society. These challenges have received considerable attention in the media and scientific journals over the last several years. The idea of developing a specialised conference focussed upon them was put forward on various occasions. Focus upon them became reality on the 5th and 6th May 2008 in the historic Castle of Veszprém, Hungary, the current premises of the Hungarian Academy of Science which hosted the Workshop. The Workshop was a stimulating event and an overwhelming success, with nearly 100 contributors from Africa, North America, Asia and Europe, representing 28 countries. After a comprehensive selection and thorough reviewing procedure 11 papers were selected for this special issue. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Egypt is looking into the possibilities for diversifying its tourism opportunities throughout the country. The main target for expanding the tourism sector is nature-based tourism. The coral reefs and rich marine life in South Sinai and the Red Sea coast have made these two areas among the premier scuba diving destinations in the world. Many beach resorts are now in operation and there are still hundreds to be constructed. However, previous tourism development in Egypt has resulted in a series of negative environmental impacts. The ambitious development plans to receive 16 million tourists by 2017 should take into consideration sustainability concepts. The government and developers have significant roles to play in adopting and implementing environmentally sound policies and practices to avoid the degradation of the natural heritage of Egypt for the sake of the current as well as future generations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Threats posed by global climate change have heightened the urgency for economies to transition to sustainability. However, quantitative metrics that measure sustainability status remain under development, hampered in part by the difficulty of identifying clear relationships between economic growth and sustainability. The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis provides a framework for describing sustainability status relative to socioeconomic development. In this study, the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis was adopted to investigate statistical relationships between the carbon intensity of human well-being (as an indicator of sustainability) and economic development in eight economic zones of China during 1997–2015. The results provide new evidence that seven of eight Chinese economic zones began advances to sustainability (defined here as downward turning points marked by inverted "N" shapes in the Environmental Kuznets Curve) between 2012 and 2015. The lone exception was the Northwestern economic zone, in which an approach to sustainability had not yet occurred by 2015. This study thus supports the contention that environmental policies and technologies have contributed to improving sustainability in terms of carbon intensity. The results suggest two strategic options for further increasing sustainability in China: 1) "first help the weakest"; and 2) "first help the latest to sustainability". • Advance to sustainability defined in terms of carbon intensity of human well-being. • Almost all economic zones in China began advances to sustainability around 2013. • Only the Northwestern economic zone had yet to reach a turning point by 2015. • Assessment shows progress toward international obligations and national objectives. • Both environmental policies and technological advances have contributed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Command-and-control environmental regulation is a traditional environmental policy that is still widely used in developing countries. This study examined a rarely discussed but significant issue for environmental sustainability and economic development—the impact of command-and-control environmental regulation on enterprise total factor productivity growth—based on a large enterprise-level sample. Employing China's "Two Control Zone" policy as a quasi-natural experiment, we used a Chinese industrial enterprise panel dataset from 1998 to 2007 to estimate the effects of command-and-control environmental regulation in a difference-in-difference framework. It is found that command-and-control environmental regulation hassignificantly hindered the growth of enterprise total factor productivity, and this negative effect was lagging and continuous. In addition, we leaned that this negative effect mainly came from the increase in costs of enterprises and the negative impact on the enterprise resource allocation efficiency. When considering enterprise heterogeneity in terms of pollution intensity, size, and ownership, the study further found that the negative effects are exacerbated for enterprises in more heavily polluting industries, those of smaller size, and those owned by foreign companies, respectively. Our research is a reexamination of the Porter hypothesis in China, and fills the gap in the literature on the micro effects of command-and-control policy on enterprise total factor productivity for developing countries. Based on a rigorous empirical analysis, we conclude that it is difficult to achieve a win–win scenario with sustainable environmental development and enterprise total factor productivity growth under command-and-control environmental regulation. Environmental regulations should have clear objectives and take a flexible approach, and it is necessary to adopt diversified environmental regulation policies based on market instruments. Image 101877 • Command-and-control environmental regulation hindered the enterprise TFP growth. • Increasing cost and lower resource allocation efficiency are main influence channels. • TFP of heavily polluted enterprise is more hindered than lightly polluted enterprise. • TFP of small enterprise is more inhibited by TCZ policy than large enterprise. • TFP of foreign enterprises is more hindered by TCZ policy than domestic enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]