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This study identifies if sustainable development practices measured through ESG information disclosure are related to stakeholder confidence, leading to a lower cost of debt and equity financing. We also investigate the possible moderating role of real earnings management. We apply a fixed effects panel data analysis to 1659 firm‐year observations of 177 European companies from 2010 to 2019. The results show that investors value ESG disclosure negatively and increase the cost of equity, whereas lenders value it positively and reduce the cost of debt. In addition, when the moderating effect of real earnings management is introduced, the effect of ESG disclosure on the cost of debt decreases, and the effect of ESG disclosure on the cost of equity is reinforced by increasing it. In the presence of real earnings management, investors and lenders seem to think companies use ESG disclosure to legitimise their practices or mislead financing providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable packaging is a pivotal aspect of sustainable development, involving multi‐faceted issues such as stakeholder management and environmental policy compliance. Despite the efforts to find packaging solutions, the extant literature is largely fragmented, featuring a high level of heterogeneity among studies that spread across different disciplines, with the majority examining important packaging issues in isolation. A study that systematically consolidates findings of different important areas of sustainable packaging implementation is lacking. This challenges companies' adoption of research findings in business strategy development. Thus, this paper conducts a systematic literature review combining keyword co‐occurrence analysis, thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis to uncover major research domains, consolidate important findings and reveal unsolved research gaps, which are crucial to advancing sustainable packaging management. The findings reveal four major research domains: (1) sustainable packaging materials and properties, (2) management practices of sustainable packaging, (3) consumer behaviours towards sustainable packaging and (4) packaging waste management. Drawing on the natural‐resource‐based view (NRBV) theory and the review findings, this study proposes four future research directions: (1) identifying ways to enhance the commercialisation of sustainable packaging technological innovations, (2) uncovering reasons for insufficient social aspect investigation in sustainable packaging research, (3) exploring strategies to enhance stakeholder integration in sustainable packaging management and (4) examining contingency factors of packaging waste management effectiveness. The research agenda is important to provide practical and managerial insights for business strategy development in sustainable packaging to achieve pollution prevention, product stewardship and sustainable development capabilities to gain future growth and competitive advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on exploring the factors influencing why companies engage in greenhushing decisions in the cultural backgrounds of China and Republic of Korea. Structural equation modeling analysis indicates that in these two countries, reputational risk not only directly leads to corporate greenhushing behavior, but also exerts its influence through conservatism as a mediating factor. Reputational risk causes companies to exhibit conservatism, which in turn leads to the adoption of greenhushing behavior. Furthermore, tests for moderation effects revealed that, in the Chinese sample data, a transparent information disclosure mechanism has the ability to mitigate the impact of reputational risk on corporate greenhushing behavior, as well as to alleviate the influence of conservatism on corporate greenhushing behavior. In the South Korean sample data, a transparent information disclosure mechanism can moderate the impact of reputational risk on conservatism and corporate greenhushing behavior. Finally, the fsQCA method is tested to derive the different configurations and pathways that lead to the strong emergence of greenhushing behavior in companies in China and Republic of Korea, as well as to identify the most influential pathways. This study provides substantial theoretical support for further exploration of the causal mechanisms of corporate greenhushing behavior and promotion of cross‐cultural comparisons and learning in the international environmental management field. In addition, provides rich empirical support and theoretical guidance for corporate environmental management decision‐making and policy formulation. The findings highlight the further standardization and strengthening of transparent information disclosure mechanisms will be an important direction for future environmental policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the interaction of environmental policies with the shadow cost of public funds and the efficiency of green research and development (R&D), while considering the presence of a public firm. In the policy combination of emission taxes and green R&D subsidies, we find that it has an implementable region where the shadow cost is neither high nor low, but the green R&D efficiency is high. We also demonstrate that the privatisation of public firms decreases the rates of both emission taxes and green R&D subsidies under a single policy regime. This increases (decreases) the implementable region of the policy combination of the emission tax (green subsidy) and is only implementable in the presence of a public firm. Finally, privatisation is shown to increase welfare when the shadow cost is lowest and green R&D is less efficient. These findings highlight that public ownership substitutes for environmental policies, while the shadow cost of public funds and the green R&D efficiency are critical when privatising public firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green credit policy, as an environmental regulation instrument in the financial sector, is gradually having an impact on corporate performance in environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). Based on the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines policy, this paper investigates the impact of green credit policies on corporate ESG performance from 2011 to 2019 using the double‐difference propensity score matching method (PSM‐DID) and the Heckman two‐stage method, using a sample of A‐share listed companies. It was found that the implementation of the Green Credit Guidelines effectively improved the ESG performance of firms in green credit‐restricted industries relative to non‐green credit‐restricted industries. It is further found that this is mainly due to the increased green focus of corporate executives, while the incremental effect of green credit policies on corporate ESG performance is further strengthened by the increased quality and quantity of corporate green technology innovation. Finally, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the boosting effect of green credit policy on ESG performance of enterprises in green credit‐restricted industries is more prominent in the sample of enterprises with more analyst attention, less financially developed regions and private ones. How to leverage the green credit policy dividend to enhance the ESG performance of enterprises, further refine, and improve the green credit policy to help enterprises' sustainable development are the most direct policy implications of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying environmental policy (EnP) and environmental innovation (EnI) is a crucial domain for addressing global challenges such as climate change, resource depletion, and pollution. It equips the corporates with the knowledge and tools to develop effective strategies, regulations, and technological advancements that can mitigate environmental impact and promote sustainable practices for the benefit of current and future generations. This study attempts to uncover the influence of both EnP and EnI toward sustainable development (SD) within three dimensions, that is, social aspect, economic aspect, and environmental aspect from Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs). A total of 723 documents were considered for data analysis using the SEM method and SmartPLS tool. The outcomes of the study are found interesting and fruitful where firstly a positive connection between EnP and SD was affirmed within Chinese MNEs. Second, the study found a positive nexus between EnI and SD, respectively. The findings highlight the insights by demonstrating EnP and EnI can help attain ultimate output and can strengthen SD of the Chinese MNEs. Additionally, this study offers several thought‐provoking and useful managerial recommendations as well as implications for both theoretical and managerial issues. Moreover, some possible opportunities are reported for future researchers by assuming the current flaws to carry out more research both within the Chinese market and rest of the regions, worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste management industry is key to achieve environmental commitment, clean production, and Circular business models; as well as to promote sustainable development. The aim of this study is to contribute to the Circular Economy measuring business performance and firm efficiency of waste collection activities and their determinants, with emphasis on sustainable development and environmental challenges. The main research goals of this study are as follows: first, to examine firm efficiency scores in waste collection activity (dangerous and non‐dangerous waste); second, to analyze the main fluctuation patterns of business efficiency; third, to evaluate the differences in the average efficiency according to region; finally, to examine the relationship between efficiency score and environmental challenges (investment in environmental protection and COVID‐19 pandemic impact). The efficiency of firms is estimated using non‐parametric production frontiers in a sample of 5441 observations for the period 2010–2020. We used several non‐parametric tests, such as the Mann–Whitney U test and the Kruskal–Wallis test; as well as several regression models (Tobit and bootstrapping regressions) to test the relationship between efficiency scores and environmental variables. The main findings of this study provide new empirical evidence and go a step further, not only at the firm level, but also at the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), aiming for global targets by 2030, are tracked by a monitoring framework comprising 231 environmental, social, and economic indicators. The framework provides data to assess whether, across countries, environmental policies are: (a) Addressing environmental pressures, (b) Linked to environmental improvements, and (c) Linked with social benefits delivered by healthy environments. While several studies have analyzed the implementation and impacts of the SDGs, there remains a critical research gap in assessing the linkage between environmental policies and their potential to deliver multiple ecological and social benefits. This study examines the efficacy of environmental policies and their implications for global environmental health and social wellbeing. We use a generalized linear modeling approach to test for correlations between SDG indicators. We show that some environmental policies, particularly protected areas and sustainable forest certification, are linked with environmental improvements, mainly in forest and water ecosystems. However, we find no evidence that environmental improvements are linked with positive social impacts. Finally, environmental pressures, including freshwater withdrawal, domestic material consumption, and tourism, are linked with environmental degradation. Environmental policy responses are generally increasing across countries. Despite this, the state of the environment globally continues to decline. Governments must focus on understanding why environmental policies have not been sufficient to reverse environmental decline, particularly concerning the pressures that continue to degrade the environment. To better track progress toward sustainable development, we recommend that the SDG monitoring framework is supplemented with additional indicators on the state of the environment. Plain Language Summary: Governments implement environmental policies to reduce ecological degradation and sustain environmental benefits to humans, such as food and clean water. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) commit all countries to adopt sustainable development pathways. Progress toward achieving the SDGs is reported by governments using 231 indicators. The SDG indicators track the implementation of environmental policies, the state of the environment, and environmental benefits such as food security and drinking water access. Using the data underlying the SDG indicators reported by governments to date, we investigate whether the implementation of environmental policies correlates with improvements in the environment and the provision of environmental benefits to humans. Results show that most environmental policies are not associated with environmental improvements; worse, we find no evidence that environmental policies lead to wider social benefits. However, we see two types of environmental policies, protected areas and sustainable forest certification, that lead to increasing the size of forest and water ecosystems which are essential for sustaining the lives of plants, animals, and humans that rely on them. Our findings highlight that governments must improve their use of environmental policies to achieve environmental improvements and the wider social benefits that humans derive from the environment. Key Points: The state of the environment globally continues to decline despite increasing environmental policy responsesThe Sustainable Development Goal indicators provide no evidence that environmental policies deliver secondary social benefitsProtected areas and sustainable forest certification are linked with environmental improvements, mainly in forest and water ecosystems [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green entrepreneurial orientation (GEO) plays a pivotal role in reconciling economic growth with environmental sustainability. This research focuses on the individual green entrepreneurial orientation (IGEO) of mid‐level managers. In particular, it aims to explore how individual, environmental, and organizational factors foster IGEO. The data were collected from a total of 102 small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), as well as 510 mid‐level managers operating within Taiwan's environmental protection sector. Subsequently, the gathered data were analyzed using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) techniques. The study found that green opportunity identification and entrepreneurial motivation notably influence various aspects of IGEO. In addition, elements like a green institutional environment, corporate green resources, and corporate environmental policies significantly boost IGEO. However, no significant links were found between a green institutional environment and green innovativeness or between corporate environmental policies and green proactiveness. This study provides a valuable contribution to GEO research, specifically focusing on SMEs and environmentally sustainable initiatives within developing economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental policy integration is needed to ensure environmental policy goals are being realized, given their cross‐sectoral nature. Most of the published research has focused on integration and coherence of (inter)national policies, plans, and programs. The implementation practices for these policies, however, are at least as important. This paper therefore looks at policy implementation for the case of artisanal gold mining in Liberia. This is studied through a lens of frontline staff (street‐level bureaucrats) who operate in networks of local government agencies, civil society organizations, and communities. Results of interviews and field observations in Grand Gedeh county show how the policy context and local realities create specific dilemmas, resulting from the combination of limited resources of local frontline staff, low‐income security for local communities and traditional local practices around protected forest areas. In response local frontline bureaucrats use their discretionary power and network to mobilize support, pool resources, combine mandates, and find creative solutions to both regulate and support community residents. Although these implementation strategies are neither necessarily sufficient to realize the official policy goals, nor are guaranteed to have the desired effects, they do show how local frontline staff act as de facto policymakers. Recognizing frontline staff as environmental policy integrators therefore is a crucial element toward more successful policies for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices play an increasingly important role in achieving sustainable development goals. Drawing on institutional theory, this paper empirically explores whether and how green financial policy affects corporate ESG performance. Taking China's pilot policy for green finance reform and innovation (GFP) as a quasi‐natural experiment, we employ the difference‐in‐differences model to investigate the causal relationship between green financial policy and corporate ESG performance. We find that the GFP significantly improves corporate ESG performance. The results are robust to a series of checks such as parallel trend examination, placebo test, mitigation of omitted variable bias, alternative variables, and the exclusion of contemporaneous policies. The heterogeneity analysis shows that the positive impact of GFP on corporate ESG performance is more pronounced for firms with tighter financial constraints, higher agency costs, and more external pressures. On this basis, we further document that the positive impact of GFP on corporate ESG performance is more pronounced for investee firms with more institutional ownership. The above findings indicate that the formal institution of government‐led green financial policy can positively affect corporate ESG performance, and market participants‐institutional investors help to strengthen this policy effect. Overall, our study sheds light on the significant role of green financial policy in promoting corporate sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management is an essential element for corporate sustainability. However, the effect of ESG management on corporate financial performance (CFP) is inconsistent, and not many studies have been conducted for Asia and developing countries, which are in the early stage of ESG management. In addition, although R&D investment influences ESG management, few studies have focused on the relationship between R&D investment, ESG, and CFP. We analyse the effect of ESG management on CFP using panel data combining ESG rating and financial data of Korean companies and examine moderating effect of R&D investment between ESG and CFP. We find the following results. First, ESG performance has a negative effect on CFP while there is no statistically significant effect in heavily polluting industries (HPI). Second, R&D investment has no significance on CFP, but a positive moderating effect exists between environmental (E) and social (S) performance and CFP. With environmental issues and climate change being a global concern, this study provides theoretical and managerial implications for companies to create synergies in R&D investment and ESG management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All industries depend on natural capital assets and ecosystem services, either directly, through their supply chains, or through their investments. Companies are therefore challenged to reorient their production systems and turn the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity into an opportunity for sustainable economic development. In this paper, we analyze the interest of institutional investors in these corporate policies through the role they play in the disclosure that companies make about them. For a balanced data panel of 8,320 firm‐year observations from 832 global companies operating in different sectors of activity over the period 2011–2020, the results obtained indicate that institutional investors, especially those with investment a long‐term investment horizon, are interested in biodiversity commitments and exercise their demand for information on these initiatives through their representatives on the board of directors. Furthermore, we show that companies are rewarded for disclosing relevant information on business policies, biodiversity management, and the valuation of ecosystem services in the value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivated by the difficulty of ensuring gender equality and the chaotic state of democracy, we analyze the effects of gender political inclusion and democracy on environmental policy performance. The study uses a panel of 45 African countries over the period 2012–2018 and employs the method of moments by quantile regression. The results show that gender political inclusion and democracy positively affect environmental performance in all quantiles. These positive effects tend to be stronger at higher quantiles. The magnitude is larger for gender political inclusion. When performance is decomposed into the sub‐indices of environmental health and ecosystem vitality, positive effects of gender political inclusion and democracy are observed in all quantiles. The effects are larger for the gender dimension than for the democracy dimension, regardless of the sub‐index used. Related Articles: Bingham, Natasha. 2016. "Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics." Politics & Policy 44(2): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12155. Hankivsky, Olena. 2013. "Gender Mainstreaming: A Five‐Country Examination." Politics & Policy 41(5): 629–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12037. Nchofoung, Tii, Simplice Asongu, Vanessa Tchamyou, and Ofeh Edoh. 2022. "Gender, Political Inclusion, and Democracy in Africa: Some Empirical Evidence." Politics & Policy 51(1): 137–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12505. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany has set an ambitious goal of meeting the recommendations of COP‐26 and reducing its carbon intensity to zero by 2045. Germany is a leader in environmental patents after the United States, Japan, and South Korea, and the environmental implications of Germany's leadership in eco‐innovation hold important clues for achieving net zero goals. In particular, the European Union is one of the global communities making the greatest efforts to combat emissions, and the success of the leading role of environmental patents in this Union in reducing CO2 emissions is an important research topic for scholars. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of environmental patents on CO2 emissions under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Germany. To this end, the study applies Bayer–Hanck and Fourier ADL approaches from 1970 to 2019. The main findings do not confirm the EKC hypothesis, while environmental patents play an active role in CO2 reduction. Based on these outcomes, Germany should consider a long‐term green policy to decouple economic growth and emissions. At the same time, German policy should promote the development and application of environmental patents to achieve the net zero targets for 2045. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our study focuses on a new environmental policy tool, environmental constraint target policy, which minimizes the implementation bias of environmental objectives through effective decomposition of environmental targets and goal management, thus ensuring the expected environmental performance. Using longitudinal data (2006–2019) covering 11,252 Chinese firm‐year observations in high‐pollution industries, we find that environmental constraint target policy promotes firms' green innovation. Such an effect is stronger when the firms are intensively monitored and weaker when the firms are located in a region with lower environmental enforcement capability. Further analysis reveals that environmental constraint target policy can enhance firms' economic performance by promoting green innovation, thereby facilitating sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at assessing the impacts of green growth, in the form of adopting sustainable energy technologies and financing green projects, on environmental conditions in India. Thus, this study is important from the point of view of India's efforts in formulating strategies linked with achieving the environmental development targets enlisted under United Nations SDG‐13 declaration. In this regard, it is assumed that strategies targeted at establishing green growth in India can fail in the presence of greenwashing. To test this hypothesis, a newly introduced econometric technique, namely the Augmented‐ARDL techniques of estimation is used. Accordingly, the results obtained firstly suggest the existence of long‐run and cointegrated relationship exists between the variables of choice. Secondly, it is very much striking to find out that the the there is an inverse relationship between use of sustainable environmental technologies and environmental sustainability across India. Hence, this particular finding points to the possibility of stimulating geenwashing in the context of technology adoption in order to improve the state of the environment in India. Lastly, financing of green projects is seen to promote environmental sustainability which, in turn, affirms the absence of greenwashing in the context of green financing initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transitioning towards a sustainable society is at the core of public planning in the EU through the European Green Deal (EGD). However, is the EGD a master plan for actual sustainable development in the EU? This work aims to answer this question through an analysis of the environmental sustainability within the EGD's plans through the method of critical discourse analysis, and discussing the results with previous efforts for sustainable development in the EU and in the UN. The results of the analysis identify fundamental flaws in the environmental sustainability of the EGD, which seems to repeat mistakes of previous efforts for sustainability planning in the EU. This work concludes that economic growth is the predominant focus in public planning and that the EGD needs a review of various environmental aspects to be considered the master plan for a transition towards a sustainable EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ship recycling industry is a labor‐intensive field that often grapples with the issue of workers not adopting appropriate practices that are environmentally friendly and safe. However, the existing literature largely overlooks the consideration of workers' environmentally friendly and safety behaviors. Therefore, this study aims to explore the determinants of workers' environmentally friendly and safety behaviors during ship recycling by proposing a theoretical model that incorporates the theory of planned behavior. Survey data were collected from 170 participants in the ship recycling industry in China. Subsequently, structural equation modeling was applied to evaluate the proposed model. The findings highlight that factors such as attitude, perceived behavioral control, subjective norms, safety awareness, and perceived susceptibility directly or indirectly affect workers' environmentally friendly and safety behavior. The study offers important implications for ship recycling companies and environmental policies, fostering the emergence of sustainable development, and stakeholder engagement in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountainous agriculture supports 15% of the global population, but its sustainability is facing challenges with the social transition. Honghe Hani Rice Terrace System (HHRTS), China, a double world‐level heritage, performs strong resilience to challenges. Available studies on HHRTS examines its sustainability from some perspectives but lack a systemic elaboration on its sustainable mechanism. This study extensively examines the literature on HHRTS and offers a comprehensive analysis of its sustainability. The findings suggest that mountainous agricultural sustainability depends on the support from relatively enough water and land resources and diverse employment based on these resources (economic sustainability), the environmental stability based on reasonable landscape structure, rich biodiversity and ecological farming methods (environmental sustainability), and social stability based on the well‐developing social structure, efficient management system, and relevant cultural restraint and guidance (social sustainability) as well as the dynamic interaction among the three dimensions. Among them, traditional knowledge and cultures play a positive role in maintaining the stability of terraced landscapes, but their role is weakening with industrialization and urbanization. This study provides a systemic explanation of a dynamic evolution mechanism that the economic and social factors drive local people to maintain a mountainous agricultural system from the agricultural society to the industrial society based on the theory of planned behavior. This study also provides abundant local knowledge, experiences, and an analytical framework for reconstructing a sustainable mountainous agricultural system in the socio‐economic transformation stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether gender diversity on the board of directors determines the performance of tourism firms in terms of their use of natural resources. A variable measuring environmental performance in response to the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is created for the first time. The creation of this variable represents the main contribution of this study. Focusing on the under‐researched environmental dimension of natural resource use also contributes to the literature. A third contribution is the choice of the tourism sector, since its performance from the perspective of the SDGs has not been assessed in previous literature. Data correspond to a sample of 163 tourism companies over the period 2015–2020. Fixed effects estimation provides robust evidence of the importance of including female talent on the board of directors. Women's inclusion on the board can promote environmental policies that seek sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of a firm's corporate environmental strategy is contingent on a practical mechanism between leaders and employees as stakeholders to spread a collective stimulus of responsible behaviors from top to bottom. This study builds on the theoretical underpinnings of social identity theory to examine the influence of corporate environmental strategy on employees' voluntary green behavior through the mediating role of middle managers' environmentally responsible leadership and the moderating role of CEOs' environmentally responsible leadership. The sample included 1532 middle managers‐subordinate dyads from 91 automotive firms and their supply chain business partners in China. Multi‐source data on CEOs' and managers' environmentally responsible leadership and employees' voluntary green behavior were collected in two stages and analyzed with multilevel structural equation modeling through the MPlus 8.3 software. The findings supported all the hypothesized relationships in predicting employees' voluntary green behavior, including the mediating and moderating mechanisms. Theoretical and managerial implications are offered, along with limitations and suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global environmental issues are becoming increasingly prominent, and green finance may play a key role in achieving sustainable development. This study takes the "Green Financial Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone" policy as a quasi‐natural experiment. The Difference‐in‐Difference model and Propensity Score Matching‐Difference in Difference model are applied to examine the direct effect of green finance policy on the green development of enterprises. A mechanism test model is used to investigate its indirect transmission mechanism. Then several heterogeneity analyses are performed from five perspectives. The results show that green finance policy considerably promotes enterprise green development and the conclusion is supported by a series of robustness tests. The mechanism analyses show that financing constraints and green innovation are the two transmission channels for green finance policy affecting enterprise green development. The heterogeneity analyses indicate that the policy effect is more significant among enterprises those are non‐state‐owned, have managers with a financial background, operate in regions with high marketization, belong to industries with low monopoly, and locate in poilt zones of Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Guizhou. Based on the above findings, policy suggestions are made to establish a win‐win scenario for the economy and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the need for a green industrial policy in the UK to address slow productivity growth and promote sustainability. The authors argue that a more active and strategic approach involving government and industry collaboration is necessary to generate investments that build economic security and resilience. They emphasize the importance of sustainable and productive investment, particularly in areas related to the transition to net zero greenhouse gas emissions. The article also highlights the economic justifications for green industrial policies, such as addressing market failures and capturing societal co-benefits. It suggests that targeted support should be provided to specific sectors and technologies where the UK has strengths, while also considering the distributional aspects and engaging citizens, consumers, and workers in the transition to a greener economy. [Extracted from the article]

The study aims to explore the effect of dimensions of green marketing orientation (GMO) on green innovation and organizational performance utilizing the fundamental concepts of GMO theory, institutional theory, and resource‐based theory, or natural resource‐based view. In this research, we mainly explore the unplumbed effect of internal (IGMO), strategic (SGMO), and tactical green marketing orientation (TGMO) of the firm using the GMO theory. Although few scientific attempts tried to measure the effect of IGMO, SGMO, and TGMO, a majority of them disdained the idea of its integrated effect and adopted a futile approach while positioning these constructs in their model. In addition, we investigated stakeholders' role (moderating) in green innovation practices and organizational performance. The proposed model is tested using survey data collected from 201 top and middle‐level working professionals from manufacturing to service industries in India. We used a structured questionnaire and covariance‐based structure equation modeling for the path estimation. All three dimensions showed a direct positive significant effect on green innovation. Only tactical TGMO showed a direct effect on organizational performance, while the other two showed an indirect effect only on organizational performance mediated through green innovation. The study also established the moderating effect of stakeholders' view on the relationships between green innovation and organizational performance. Conclusively, we contribute to GMO theory by extending the scope for further academic/market validation and concurrently advancing managerial inferences for business strategists and market practitioners on sustainable organizational development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a systematic exploration of the linkages between environment impact assessment (EIA) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the Indian context through a critical analysis of the socio‐ecological impacts of development projects and the policy climate for environmental clearances. A conceptual framework portraying the interlinkages of the systemic disruptions in the socio‐ecological realms, policy challenges, and SDGs is developed, which argues for integrating the SDGs into the EIA framework in India. The paper argues that the legal fluidity and dilution in the design and enactment of EIA retrogrades the crucial socio‐political transformation required for achieving sustainability. The systematic literature review of empirical, conceptual, and grey literature, undertaken on Indian EIA, highlights its instrumental role as a political tool for achieving developmental sustainability. The paper concludes by highlighting the urgent need to mainstream ecological decision‐making into all governance processes for achieving the SDGs in a transforming society like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from research on strategic management and environmental psychology, this study investigates the role of independent directors' and CEOs' values in promoting sustainable development. We propose that their values may interactively shape directors' focus on environmental sustainability. We test our propositions with survey data from 176 directors and matching CEOs. Our results confirm that there is a significant positive relationship between directors' biospheric values and their environmental sustainability focus, which is further amplified by CEO egoistic values. In contrast to our expectations—and regardless of CEO values—directors' egoistic values appear to be unrelated to their environmental sustainability focus. As such, this research points to the importance of director and CEO values acting as substitutes rather than complements in shaping directors' environmental sustainability focus. Taken together, this study highlights the importance of considering both director and CEO values in promoting environmental policy at the top of the organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the potential recognition and engagement of the natural environment as an important factor in strategic investment decisions by accommodation suppliers in a small island context. The investigation, based on empirical data from two Thai islands, Koh Tao and Koh Phi Phi, contributes to the debate if the environment, by focusing on climate change, can be identified as a primary stakeholder for accommodation suppliers. The findings show that strategic investment decisions are influenced by impacts commonly associated with climate change, although a conscious recognition of climate change as a strategic stakeholder or important factor in strategic investment decisions could not be confirmed. Conversely, the element of unconsciousness in the process of recognising climate change in investment decisions sparks questions regarding the degree to which the recognition of business stakeholders requires being a conscious process and if the focus on investments could be another element for stakeholder identification frameworks for businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the effect of chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting. The study relies partly on hand‐collected, visual data and covers 57 German DAX 40 and MDAX companies from 2016 to 2020 (266 company‐year observations, Bloomberg database). Looking into the sub‐scores of ESG, CEO narcissism has a negative and linear relationship with environment and governance reporting but there is no significant relationship between narcissism and social reporting. Regression analyses further suggest a U‐shaped (quadratic) relation between CEO narcissism and ESG reporting: while low to moderate degrees of narcissism affect overall ESG reporting negatively, as CEO levels of narcissism increase so does the level of reporting. Moreover, further analysis has shown that the quantity of reporting is additionally positively related to ESG performance. The study applies and validates a relatively new but easily applicable measure of narcissism and extends narcissism research in the area of curvilinear relationships. We offer several further implications for human resource managers, regulators, auditors, and (non‐)financial analysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines two major policy frameworks for achieving sustainable development: the market‐based 'Green Economy' approach (exemplified by South Korea), and the redistributive 'Living Well' approach (exemplified by Bolivia). We compare the two paradigms in qualitative terms using document analysis, and we assess quantitatively how they have fared in terms of delivering progress towards sustainable development in each country. Time series data for the Sustainable Development Index and the Gini index were examined. The results show that, since 'Living Well' was initiated, social outcomes have continued to improve in Bolivia and, while emissions and material footprint have increased, they remain low and within or near sustainable boundaries. By contrast, South Korea has regressed in terms of sustainability. Social indicators have improved, but the Green Economy policy has failed to reduce ecological pressures. This raises significant questions about the legitimacy of the Green Economy paradigm as a model for achieving sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical Zone Science (CZS) explores the deep evolution of landscapes from the base of the groundwater or the saprolite‐rock interface to the top of vegetation, the zone that supports all terrestrial life. Here we propose a framework for CZS to evolve further as a discipline, building on 1st generation CZOs in natural systems and 2nd generation CZOs in human‐modified systems, to incorporate human behaviour for more holistic understanding in a 3rd generation of CZOs. This concept was tested in the China‐UK CZO programme (2016–2020) that established four CZOs across China on different lithologies. Beyond conventional CZO insights into soil resources, biogeochemical cycling and hydrology across scales, surveys of farmers and local government officials led to insights into human‐environment interactions and key pressures affecting the socio‐economic livelihoods of local farmers. These learnings combined with the CZS data identified knowledge exchange (KE) opportunities to unravel diverse factors within the Land‐Water‐Food Nexus, that could directly improve local livelihoods and environmental conditions, such as reduction in fertilizer use, contributing toward Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and environmental policies. Through two‐way local KE, the local cultural context and socio‐economic considerations were more readily apparent alongside the environmental rationale for policy and local action to improve the sustainability of farming practices. Seeking solutions to understand and remediate CZ degradation caused by human‐decision making requires the co‐design of CZS that foregrounds human behavior and the opinions of those living in human modified CZOs. We show how a new transdisciplinary CZO approach for sustainable Earth futures can improve alignment of research with the practical needs of communities in stressed environments and their governments, supporting social‐ecological and planetary health research agendas and improving capacity to achieve SDGs. Plain Language Summary: Critical Zone Science (CZS) explores how landscapes evolve from below the Earth's surface to the top of trees, supporting life on Earth. CZS was established by studying pristine landscapes, with little or no human modification of the land, water and soil. These pristine natural systems are rare in our modern world. In this paper, we have proposed a new approach to CZS for studying the human‐modified landscapes that dominate our world. To help explain why this is needed, we have re‐drawn a diagram explaining how the critical zone works to show the role of humans. We also give examples of research in three regions of China where we learned from local farmers living in our study areas, to improve our scientific understanding and to try to align our research process to address the biggest pressures affecting their lives. This new approach to CZS can help focus research to directly support local people and improve our ability to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Key Points: Integrating local knowledge with critical zone science can improve interpretation of scientific findings and delivery of Sustainable Development GoalsThird generation science can improve alignment of research with the practical needs of communities and governmentsA new conceptual diagram for human‐modified critical zones is produced to illustrate transdisciplinary Critical Zone Observatories for sustainable Earth futures [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the National Green Factory Policy (NGFP) issued by the Chinese government in 2016, we analyzed the list of manufacturing enterprises awarded the National Green Factory (NGF) designation in 31 provinces over the period 2017–2021. In this regard, we found that the local governments' political resources and soft pressure, and enterprises' profitability have a positive effect, while mimetic pressure has a negative effect on the tendency of manufacturing enterprises to declare NGF designation (hereafter, TENDENCY). Moreover, the positive effect of soft pressure was stronger when political resources were high (vs. low). Additionally, we observed a U‐shaped relationship between the enterprises' environmental pollution level and TENDENCY, and that profitability can weaken such relationship. This study contributes to the literature on the institutional theory and resource dependence theory, and provides new insights into how governments can develop voluntary environmental policies to incentive manufacturing firms to engage in green behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a highly competitive and changing environment, manufacturers are called to adopt the paradigms of smart, sustainable, resilient, and lean manufacturing (SSRL). However, despite the growing interest in the topic and the potential of smart manufacturing features to enable sustainable development, little is known about these interactions in the system of SSRL. Therefore, to address this gap, this study investigates the moderating effect of SM on lean manufacturing and resilient manufacturing for SP while examining the existing relationship between lean and resilience. Drawing upon a hybrid methodology including the partial least squares‐structural equation modeling (PLS‐SEM) and machine learning algorithms, this research paper develops and tests the hypothetical model using collected data from 399 organizations in China, Africa, and Europe. The findings reveal important implications regarding the fostering effect of SM on the components of the SSRL system and how firms can be both lean and resilient and achieve high sustainable performance simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the greatest socially responsible sovereign wealth fund in the world, namely, the Norwegian Government Pension Fund‐Global (GPF‐G), as a proxy for the world market portfolio, and collecting investment data from 2006 to 2021, our research studies how the attitude of environmentally concerned investors has changed, on different markets, over time, particularly before and after the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. We investigate, with an event study methodology, what happens to stock prices when companies are excluded from the GPF‐G portfolio for serious environmental violations, unacceptable level of greenhouse gas emissions, or for their involvement in thermal coal processing. In line with previous studies, our results show that Paris Agreement has acted as a catalyst for environmentally conscious behavior by international investors, and this is particularly true in Anglo‐Saxon countries. Especially US, Japanese, Chilean, Indian, and Canadian investors care about the environmental issues that have led to the exclusion from the fund investment portfolio. To the contrary, investors in China, Germany, Australia, and UK seem to have an opposite reaction, as the prices of the excluded stocks increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the corporate social responsibility performance of the acquirer firm, measured with the environmental, social and governance score, is related to postmerger operating performance, by analysing 796 merger operations that took place between 2011 and 2018. The analysis was carried out by first considering the full sample and then dividing the sample into three subsamples: acquirer companies with an environmental, social and governance score below the median, acquirer companies with a rating above the median and finally those companies considered to have a very high score (over 80). To support the results obtained from this analysis, a machine learning technique was subsequently applied to the data. The results obtained from the analysis demonstrated that acquiring companies with a high environmental, social and governance rating manage to generate a significant improvement in operating performance postdeal after the merger, whereas this is not the case for companies with a low score or for companies with a score of above 80. These results seem to demonstrate that although a high environmental, social and governance score can have a positive impact on postmerger operating performance, this only true up to a point. A possible explanation for this could be that the costs involved in integrating and aligning the culture of the two merging companies increase when there is the need to maintain a high score. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green core competence theory proposes that green core competence is needed for green innovation performance and, in turn, firm performance. We demonstrate that this theory applies in post‐conflict Iraq where green innovation performance was conditional on commitment to sustainable management and development of green technology and skills. Data from 238 Iraqi executives showed that green product and process innovation performance increased with green core competence, but only when the firm invested in people and R&D or, in the case of green process innovation, top management demonstrated authentic commitment to sustainable practices. The moderation effects of R&D investment and top management commitment reflect the national context in Iraq, where R&D investment is low and management is often constrained by inflexible bureaucracy. As countries emerge from conflict, investment in modernization of companies' internal structure, management, and capacity for continuous improvement is required if core competence is to be translated into innovation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food, when wasted, reaches landfills and emits greenhouse gases. The impact of greenhouse gases (GHGs), in turn, is felt by even those who do not waste food in the place. Externalities thus created are known to distort market efficiency and the most widely discussed externality is climate change. This study takes the case of United States of America (USA) to ascertain the GHGs resulting due to food wastage. The difference between cost per capita due to emissions from animal‐based products and emissions from plant‐based products comes out to be $122. In the year 1997 total GHG emission for the entire population of the USA due to food wastage was 401.98 billion kgCO2eq, costing the country 45.42 billion US dollars. Two decades later, in 2017, the food waste costs went up by 6 billion US dollars amounting to 51.14 billion US dollars and 452.64 billion kgCO2eq of GHG emissions The novelty of this research lies in highlighting the carbon footprints of food wastage in terms of GHG's and monetizing these emissions. The study proposes an integrated response through a mix of environmental policy instruments of economic incentives, command and control and moral suasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Many companies have become aware of the importance of green creativity for sustainable development in the face of an increasingly critical global environmental situation. As employee's green creativity serves as an important foundation for corporate green creativity, we divide green creativity at the employee level into green incremental and radical creativity and construct a theoretical framework to assess the effects of corporate environmental ethics on these two types of green creativity. We distribute 195 valid leader–employee matching questionnaires to a variety of companies in China. We find that corporate environmental ethics has a positive effect on both incremental and radical green creativity. Furthermore, we discover that employee environmental commitment partially mediates the association between corporate environmental ethics and the two types of green creativity identified above. Sustainable human resources management (HRM) plays a moderating role between corporate environmental ethics and environmental commitment and moderates the indirect effects of corporate environmental ethics on the two types of green creativity through the promotion of environmental commitment. These findings suggest that companies should improve their corporate environmental ethics and sustainable HRM to encourage employees to enhance their own environmental commitment and, in turn, increase their green incremental and radical creativity levels. Our study has significant implications for enhancing business innovation and achieving sustainable development. Finally, we also address the theoretical and practical implications of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change caused by carbon emissions has brought severe challenges to the sustainable development of global economy. In this context, this study constructs a weighted and directed carbon emission network for the European Union (EU). We use social network analysis to measure the indicators of the structural characteristics of the EU carbon emission network, and employ cluster analysis to investigate the role of countries in the carbon emission network. Furthermore, we use linear regression to explore the impacts of structural characteristics of carbon emission network on carbon emissions. The results show that, first the carbon emissions ties among the EU countries show a typical network structure during the sample period. Countries such as Germany, France, and Belgium are at the center of the carbon emission network, while Malta, Cyprus, and Croatia are at the edge. Second, different countries play the roles of "net spillover," "broker," "two‐way spillover," and "net receiver" in the EU carbon emission network. Last, the increase of network density, the decrease of network hierarchy and the decrease of network efficiency all significantly reduce the carbon emission intensity of the EU, and narrow the spatial difference of carbon emissions among countries. Improving the weighted centrality indicators of nodes in the carbon emission network is helpful to reduce the carbon emission intensity of the EU countries. Based on the findings, this article puts forward policy suggestions for the collaborative governance of EU carbon emission abatement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on field of sustainable development has shown that individuals' systems thinking competency promotes and predicts their sustainability competency and pro‐environmental behavior well. Systems thinking competency also enables us to focus more on large‐scale climate change mitigation actions. Previous surveys indicated that Finns have changed their behavior for mitigating climate change, but this has been not reflected in decreased consumption‐based calculated carbon footprints because large‐scale mitigation measures have not materialized. The present study assessed Finns' systems thinking competency (n = 2006) and knowledge of how to reduce their household carbon footprint. The survey data collected were analyzed using explorative factor analysis, hierarchical regression analysis, t‐test, and analysis of variance. The results indicate that Finns view their own systems thinking competency related to climate change as not very high, and heir assessments vary widely. Moreover, their knowledge of how to reduce their household carbon footprint is somewhat low and is geared toward small‐scale mitigation actions. The results can be used to inform environmental policy and sustainability education priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific evaluation of the sustainable development efficiency of China's large and medium‐sized cities has far‐reaching significance to how to improve the well‐being of residents and improve the level of sustainable development. This research uses the parallel two‐stage SBM dynamic (PT‐DSBM) model to evaluate the sustainable development efficiency of 33 cities in eastern, central, and western China. The innovation of this article is divided into two points. First of all, the PT‐DSBM model is used to subdivide the sustainable development system into social, economic, and ecological subsystems and closely integrates it with residents' QOL, which further reveals the inherent mechanism of the sustainable development system. Second, the spatiotemporal evolution can further reveal the spatiotemporal changes of sustainable development and residents' QOL within the scope of this investigation. The results show the following. (1) The overall efficiency of urban sustainable development in China is high in the east and west and low in the central. (2) The social subsystem efficiency in western cities exhibits outstanding performance, eastern cities perform better in economic and ecological sustainable subsystems, while the efficiency of residents' QOL remains at a high level in the sample cities as a whole. (3) In the study of spatiotemporal evolution, the concentration of urban sustainable development decreases with time evolution. Finally, this research gives suggestions on social security, stakeholder engagement, and environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the effect of Audit Committee, firm characteristics, and ISO 14001 on environmental performance. Also, this study analyzes the effect of environmental performance on the financial performance. The data analysis was performed using multiple linear regression Data collection techniques are carried out using annual reports of companies receiving PROPER Award and listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchanges in the year of 2015–2019. The results showed that Audit Committee, firm characteristics, and ISO 14001 significantly influenced environmental performance. Another result is that environmental performance has a positive effect on the financial performance. This study contributes as a reference for the government to make environmental policies so as to encourage the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study measures environmental performance using only PROPER which cannot be generalized to all companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchanges and other markets. The next studies should use other proxies to measure environmental performance and use other data collection methods such as interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eco‐innovation has turned into the hotspot of numerous enterprises and governments to gain sustainable development. This study examines how enterprises acquire green knowledge in interorganizational cooperative eco‐innovations, exploring the influence of different collaborative modes and the direct and moderating roles of specific investments. In accordance with interorganizational interaction level, the widely used collaborative modes can be attributed to low‐ (e.g., commissioned research and development [R&D]), medium‐, and high‐interaction modes (e.g., joint R&D and co‐construction of R&D entities). Results from a survey of 172 Chinese firms operating in the new energy vehicle industrial chain support that both specific investments and collaborative eco‐innovation have positive effects on green knowledge acquisition. Furthermore, the positive effect of collaborative eco‐innovation is stronger for high‐interaction collaboration modes than that for low‐interaction collaboration modes. Specific investments also play a moderate role in the link of collaborative eco‐innovation and green knowledge acquisition; similarly, the positive moderating effect is stronger for high‐interaction collaboration modes than that for low‐interaction collaboration modes. These findings suggest that when managers formulate the environmental policy, they should encourage collaboration, interorganizational interactions, and specific investments to acquire green knowledge. This paper mainly contributes to open eco‐innovation literature by revealing the mechanisms and the boundary conditions under which collaborative mode could effectively promote green knowledge acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments and policymakers worldwide have been setting targets to achieve an ambitious net‐zero emission target by 2050 to tackle the pressing issue of climate change. However, achieving the net‐zero emission target by 2050 depends on the factors determining the transition from traditional fossil fuel energy sources to renewables. In connection with this, policymakers have emphasised the need to transition from a linear to a circular economy. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of the progress towards a circular economy in reducing CO2 emissions and promoting environmental sustainability. To do so, we use annual historical data for a panel of 29 European countries from 2000 to 2020. Using an identification strategy that adopts heteroscedastic‐based instrumental variables and addresses endogeneity issues, we find that progress towards a circular economy significantly improves environmental quality via reducing CO2 emissions. Our findings suggest that business strategies promoting recycling and circular economy practices play an important role in environmental sustainability by reducing emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many financing decisions continue to exacerbate global biodiversity loss, despite a growing understanding of the economic and financial risks of biodiversity loss. Applying Coase's financial decision‐making theory based on cost, revenues, and risks, the article analyzes literature and current developments of biodiversity finance and green finance to evaluate why financial decision‐making is incentivized to ignore biodiversity risks and mostly fails to maximize biodiversity conservation or nature‐positive finance. Based on the identified gaps, the article develops four principles to integrate biodiversity into financial decision‐making: (1) regulation must set limits on nature's exploitation, as finance only values limited aspects of nature as "bankable," while the destruction of other parts are without negative or positive value to the investor; (2) biodiversity‐related financial risk evaluation needs focus on local risks due to the local nature of biodiversity impacts and dependencies (in comparison, e.g., to climate finance's global risks); (3) scale biodiversity finance utilizing its secondary benefits, particularly in conjunction with climate finance; (4) biodiversity finance development needs to be co‐led and championed by financial decision‐makers. This article contributes to the emerging literature on biodiversity finance and green finance for sustainable development with implications for policy makers and standard setters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern‐day firms are under extreme pressure from diverse stakeholders to integrate environmentalism, mainly sustainable, social, and environmental ingenuities like biodiversity initiatives, into their business strategy. Collaborative arrangements in the form of business groups can positively influence sustainable development and environmental ingenuities by adhering to environmental policies and regulations and pursuing environmental orientation as they have a higher political or social visibility. However, such collaborations may negatively influence ecological and carbon footprints as their stronger political legitimacy means that they are less worried about undertaking legitimation activities in the drive toward environmental protection and restoration, such as enhanced sustainable social and environmental performance. This paper adds to the emerging conflicting business strategy and environment literature to resolve whether corporate's collaborative actions protect the environment or further deteriorate it in the form of increased or decreased sustainable social and environmental performance. Using a large sample of 21,086 firm‐year observations from 2010 to 2018 in China (the world's biggest polluter), we find a negative and significant relationship between corporate's collaborative actions and sustainable social and environmental performance, implying that such collaborative arrangements have worse sustainable social and environmental performance than non‐collaborative (individual) firms. The findings highlight vital guidelines in framing stratagems about ecological protection and restoration and effectively improving the environmental footprints of the firms. Our results constitute the interests of policymakers and controllers concerned with evaluating initiatives pertaining to ecological protection and sustainable development among the collaboratively managed enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a quantitative review of the evolution of the concept of environmental strategy. We show how it has formed the backbone of the development of firm strategy and the natural environment as a research tradition and how consensus regarding it has evolved in the academic community during the stages of its historical evolution. We us co‐word analyses to address changes in the structure of its definitional landscape and how it has evolved through the analysis of centrality of its core and periphery keywords. Furthermore, we develop, by the first time, a cluster analysis to identify the main definitional factors behind definitions along the two periods analyzed. Finally, four propositions for future development and a consensual definition of environmental strategy are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to investigate the possibility of achieving Chinese climate and sustainable development goals (SDGs) with technological innovations and renewable energy policies. Currently, China is ranked first in global emissions. Hence, we utilized Chinese data of 1996Q1 2018Q4 to investigate the policy implication of technological innovation and renewal energy towards its climate goals. Economic development, technology, energy and environmental policies are incorporated in our study for clear insight on the impact of technology and renewable energy on China's climate goals. We adopt different scientific approaches (structural break, bound method of co‐integration, autoregressive dynamic lag‐ARDL dynamics and granger causality test) for both quantitative and theoretical analyses. Our discussions and policy inference are based on the findings from ARDL and granger causality analyses. Findings from ARDL tests debunk the inverted U‐shape EKC hypothesis for China. Technological innovations and renewable energies are found impacting favorably on Chinese environment by reducing carbon emissions. Output derived from Causality supports the results from ARDL with nexus established amongst the selected instruments. From the findings, we conclude by advocating for policy to be framed on renewable energy sector through investment and technological boosting towards a SDG for China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a regional government considers investing funds for the sustainable development of its region, it must consider the real needs of the population and the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The identification of needs should be carried out with the support of local stakeholders representing various social groups. This paper seeks to answer the question of how to guide public investment policies at the local level, such as improving education, health, transportation and others, to better meet the SDGs. To answer this question, a multi‐criteria decision‐making process is followed, whereby, once the needs are classified by investment areas, they are prioritized based on criteria derived from the SDGs. The problem is complex because of the difficulty of the local stakeholder engagement process and also because of the interrelationships and influences that arise between all the elements of the decision problem: criteria and alternatives. To address this complexity, the Analytical Network Process method combined with DEMATEL will be followed. This process is applied to the case study of the distribution of funds allocated by the Government of Colombia to the Meta Region (Colombia) with the participation of 48 stakeholders to identify needs and the support of six experts in sustainability and project management for their prioritization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]