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Building performance simulation serves the derivation of the relevant building performance indicators (e.g., energy use, indoor-environmental conditions) given the assumptions of certain model input parameters (i.e., description of the building, boundary conditions, occupants' presence and behaviour). Simulation can be employed for multiple purposes, including but not limited to building design support, building systems configuration, and code compliance demonstration. It has been suggested that the level of detail and resolution of simulation models must match their deployment purpose. However, there is arguably a lack of definitive guidelines for the purpose-dependent selection of appropriate simulation models. To address this challenge, the present contribution suggests that the attributes of a simulation model in general, and the type of the adopted occupant model in particular, must correspond to the specifics of the building performance indicator under investigation. To make progress in this area, a typological classification of building performance indicators is proposed along three salient dimensions, namely the indicators' topical domain (e.g., energy use, thermal comfort, noise control), their spatial attributes, and their temporal attributes. Following a detailed analysis, the paper presents a high-level approach to derive the basic requirements concerning occupant models as a categorical function of the simulation purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry is responsible for 40% of the energy consumption and 36% of the CO2 emissions, and buildings are responsible for a significant part of energy consumption in Europe. Thus, a growing concern regarding environmental impacts in the construction sector is in place. Reducing these impacts and optimise the design process is a major priority, and technology needs to be integrated along with the design to allow for better buildings performance. Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodology is one of the technologies that is revolutionising how the supply chain delivers the construction projects, allowing for an overview of the whole life cycle, keeping track of the data along the process, and potentiating more advanced simulations and supported decisions. The tool proposed in this paper aims to integrate different types of sustainability analysis, namely Streamlined Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Carbon Footprint, Life Cycle Cost (LCC) and Level(s) framework with BIM. This involves defining adequate Product Data Templates (PDT) and a database structure for BIM objects, including the necessary parameters to enable designers to do holistic and dynamic assessments from early design stages to a complete LCA. Also, considering the importance of using BIM to visualise different scenarios, a graphical interface will be developed to show the key sustainability indicators and support decision-making for more sustainable buildings. The results achieved show that technology must be taken to meet Climate most ambition targets and reduce the impact of construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to other goods, buildings have a long lifespan. It is therefore the norm and not the exception that adaptation will be needed at some point in their life cycle to changing environmental conditions, technical progress and new/additional user requirements. The adaptation of existing buildings to future challenges in the form of refurbishment contributes to sustainable development. The proportion of refurbishments is increasing in both absolute and relative terms in the building sector in Europe. It is therefore surprising that the modelling particularities of refurbishment in the context of a life cycle-based environmental performance assessment are still neglected in the ENstandards. The paper deals with these particularities. Specifically, it presents a typology of approaches starting with a distinction between planned refurbishment as B5 and unforeseen refurbishment as an independent design and construction task / next life cycle, as well as the status of the discussion in selected countries. Recommendations for action for the life cycle assessment are given for specific decision-making situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In striving to achieve the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda, governments have the opportunity to implement their climate and sustainability goals more coherently. Such coherence requires the coordination of interdependent policies across different policy fields, sectors and actors. This paper explores how governments design and implement synergic solutions to concomitantly achieve both international agendas. With the empirical cases of Germany and South Africa, we investigate two independent approaches to the synergic solution of a just energy transition, whereby countries aim to phase out coal as a means to tackle climate change while also ensuring that the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is not hindered. Methodologically, we apply a deductive qualitative approach consisting of literature review, semi-structured interviews, and content analysis. To that end, we examine relevant policies and institutional arrangements by applying a combined conceptual framework of energy justice and just transition in both countries. We find major challenges in overcoming environmental, economic and social burdens of the coal phase-out, especially related to jobs and inequality (SDGs 8, 10) and the Water-Energy-Food-Land nexus (SDGs 2, 6, 7, 15). Through the selection of Germany and South Africa, we illustrate how countries with different political, social and economic backgrounds strive to manage such a transition. Our developed framework and case-studies' findings point towards important considerations when designing just energy transition pathways, such as ensuring inclusiveness in decision-making, thoroughly assessing social, economic and environmental impacts, and adequately coordinating across different actors and the local, provincial and national levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In respect to CO2 emissions, the post-Soviet states are a scientifically interesting object of research, as each of the countries has developed via different paths since reclaiming independence from the Soviet Union. Given that each country has a different approach to the use of fossil resources, it is essential to assess their input to global carbon footprint individually. Such assessment then allows to find certain actions in the development of legislation and to apply focused techniques to reduce carbon emissions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the fossil CO2 emissions produced in the Baltic States from 1991 onward, describing challenges relating to sustainability and socio-economic, scientific, and integrated approaches to sustainable development, including clean and efficient use of energy, and thus addressing climate challenges. This paper reports on data on CO2 emissions in the Baltic States. The results show that the transition of the Baltic States from the specificities of the Soviet Union's economy to an economy integrated into global markets has led to a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. However, the development and implementation of national policies for sustainable development are still crucial for mitigation of the climate crisis. Further actions must include the implementation and monitoring of policies for sustainable development, changing of the consumption and production patterns, education and awareness of sustainability, and adaptation to global climate change, while also addressing sustainability challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we set out to analyze the need to monitor the "water footprint", starting from the fact that water is an indispensable resource for the development of life, and its lack is one of the biggest problems facing the world today, one of the biggest concerns and, at the same time, one of the biggest challenges. Water scarcity is a risk both for the economy and for communities and ecosystems, being influenced by climate change, but also by the irresponsible behaviour of people. Finding solutions to protect this resource is a concern of the modern world in trying to protect sustainable development. The research methodology involved the analysis of the literature, data collection and processing, formulating opinions and conclusions on how to apply smart development principles to find viable solutions to reduce the "water footprint". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater resource assessment and forecasting in mountain areas requires the monitoring of two conditions, local meteorological conditions, and springs' groundwater parameters. The reliability of the monitoring data and conditions are linked to the technical instrumentation, multiparametric probes, and sensors. This paper presents a set of attractive tools and sensors for springs' groundwater resource monitoring and assessment in mountain basins. Data from the combination of weather station sensors with spring flow-rate instruments, installed in the alpine Mascognaz basin, can guarantee an entire understanding of how one set of parameters can affect other results, defining consequential cause-and-effect relationships. Since a large part of the Alpine groundwater bodies are exploited for drinking purposes, understanding the evolution of their rechange processes requires making the right economic and instrumental investments aimed at using them according to forecast predictions and sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development of enterprises is based on three pillars: economic, social, and environmental. Sustainable development aims to limit climate change and its negative impact on the natural environment. The main aim of this paper is to assess the impact of selected energy economy factors (government expenditure, environmental taxes, outlays on renewable energy sources, prices of futures contracts for CO2 emissions, outlays on R&D, and the EU Emissions Trading System (ETSEU)) on the sustainable development of the energy sectors in Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, and Poland, from 2008 to 2022. We use the correlation coefficients, the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Vector Autoregressive (VAR) Models, and the simultaneous equation. The research results indicate a variation in the direction and strength of the influence of individual economic factors in the studied countries (p < 0.05). The results can support operational and strategic decisions sustaining the sustainable development of enterprises in the analyzed countries. The results indicate the need to reform selected economic factors, with an emphasis on the increased importance of environmental taxes and the reform of the EU ETS, which is a key tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of globalisation-induced greenhouse gas emissions is an ongoing topic and a major challenge to the EU climate goals of achieving non-zero emissions by 2050. In the light of this ongoing debate on the globalisation–environment nexus, the paper examines the impact of economic globalisation on climate in EU countries over the period 2000–2019 and provide some new empirical evidence. After applying the panel cointegration analysis and the Granger causality test, the dynamic panel analysis is performed for 26 EU countries using the Arellano–Bond estimator. For the policy perspective, the analysed sample of countries is grouped into two subpanels according to their level of development—EU countries with above-average and below-average GDP per capita. After testing the effects of different dimensions of economic globalisation and environmental taxes on GHG emissions, the results revealed the following: (1) Trade globalisation is detrimental to the climate, as trade openness significantly increases emissions in both country groups. Financial globalisation has a weaker impact and increases emissions only in below-average countries, suggesting that FDI inflows could be important for the transfer of green technologies when a country reaches higher development level. (2) Passenger transport reduces GHG emissions in both groups of countries, while FDI are beneficiary for the climate in above-average countries. (3) Environmental taxes as a proxy for environmental policy show statistically significant results, but with different outcomes in the two groups; they have a negative impact on emissions in countries that are below the GDP p/c average, indicating the shortcomings of the tax system in addressing climate change. (4) The total energy consumption increases emissions in both country groups and, thus, harms the climate. Therefore, despite the current unfavourable circumstances, EU countries should continue to expand the green economy, increase energy consumption from renewables, and develop low-carbon technologies that do not depend on imported fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held in Glasgow a year later than scheduled, with expected outcomes achieved under a post-pandemic background. Based on the Issue-Actor-Mechanism Framework, this paper systematically evaluates the outcomes achieved at COP26 and analyzes the tendency of post-COP26 climate negotiations. Overall, with the concerted efforts of all parties, COP26 has achieved a balanced and inclusive package of outcomes and concluded six years of negotiations on the Paris Rulebook. It is fair to say that COP26 is another milestone in climate governance following the implementation of the Paris Agreement. Meanwhile, the Glasgow Climate Pact has cemented the consensus on a global commitment to accelerating climate action over the next decade and reached a breakthrough consensus on reducing coal, controlling methane, and halting deforestation. In the post-COP26 era, we still need to take concrete actions to implement the outcomes of the Paris Agreement and the Glasgow Climate Pact, innovate ways to speed up CO2 emissions reduction, and continue to strive for breakthroughs in important issues such as finance, technology, adaptation, and collaboration. In addition to avoiding the escalation of international conflicts, we need to collectively and properly handle the relationship between energy security, carbon reduction, and development and facilitate the efforts of countries to achieve their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including climate-related goals. China will continue to maintain the existing multilateral mechanisms and processes for climate governance, unremittingly take concrete actions to address climate change, promote a domestic comprehensive green transition and global cooperation on carbon neutrality, and contribute constructively to global climate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turkey has been one of the earliest participants of the international climate policy process, since the Ministerial Conference on Atmospheric Pollution and Climate Change held in 1989. The country has prepared strategy documents, actions plans, sectoral policies, and projects to detect and adapt climate change effects. However, any of this has not turned into a main plan to support climate change mitigation on an international scale. The purpose of this paper is to identify local climate change mitigation strategies of Sakarya city, Turkey, by strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis. For this purpose, relevant information were gathered from Covenant of Mayors, greenhouse gas inventories of the city, National Energy Efficiency Action Plan, online workshop with 44 local stakeholders from private sector and local universities held on 13.10.2020. The results emphasized the importance of the cross-link between local adaptation and mitigation in terms of energy demand and energy-based emissions on national and international scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since both the EU Erasmus+ program and UNESCO Global Geoparks aim at developing models of best practices, a shared playground for common activities can be found in high geodiversity and rich geoheritage areas to promote innovative education and professional perspectives in the ecological transition. Two consecutive Erasmus+ cooperative partnerships (GEOclimHOME and GEOclimHOME-PRO) involved schools, research institutions, and three European geoparks (Rokua, Finland; Sesia Val Grande, Italy; Chablais, France) for improved perception of climate and environmental changes and appraisal of geoheritage. The common pedagogical approach is presented in this review paper as well as the different methodological solutions for (1) understanding climate change and (2) recognising its natural and human factors, by environmental research and professional experiences. Activities were first addressed to explore the "secret" values of geoheritage for awareness on climate changes. Later, active/passive roles of humans toward the environment have been analysed, which are related to the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs). Results of educational activities demonstrated enhanced students' awareness of social and environmental responsibility. Moreover, the actions highlighted new job opportunities, accomplishing the local and global needs of sustainable development, future skills, and lifestyles within geopark territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global challenges, such as Climate Change and Sustainable Development, require the design of sustainable lifestyles, products, services, and cities that reduce carbon intensity by at least 50% before the year 2030 and 100% by the year 2050 to avoid long-term climate catastrophes. Short-term action is needed to accomplish long-term sustainability goals. We work on the 2030 deadline with every tool available to us: new course development combined with new pedagogy to effectively and efficiently deliver time-based design. We made our courses available online as open source resources within a global network of universities. In this paper, we describe a project called “Dexign Futures” initially developed at the School of Design at Carnegie Mellon University. This open source learning project is being locally adapted and evaluated with three global partners: at the School of Design, Politecnico di Milano, Italy; Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, and Georgia Tech University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. In this paper, we describe the general project Dexign Futures and, specifically, the case study workshop conducted at the School of Design, Politecnico di Milano. We briefly describe the general Dexign Futures project and focus on the seminar conducted at the School of Design of the Polytechnic of Milan to show the possible variations to adapt the global model to specific and local contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper presents the results of an empirical research that was conducted last year in the Romanian business environment. The analyzed corpus comprises approximately 2000 associations of the sustainable development concept, all provided by 627 respondents (employees in the Romanian business environment whose main interest is to use information technology properly in order to create new paradigms and values that will help contribute to a more affluent, creative and harmonious society). The main aim of this paper is to analyse how the employees from the Romanian business environment grasp the concept of sustainable development and relate to it, firstly, on the linguistic level and secondly, on the cultural level. The point of departure is the standpoint that the sustainable development concept is based upon three main pillars: environment, economy and society and it focuses on social sub-themes. Within this framework, we consider cultural diversity and intercultural understanding through language and its infinite association possibilities. Through language, the individual relates to certain concepts and this is done affectively. Therefore, the concept related approach is not univocal, but it involves both positive (e.g., future, environment, education, growth, resources, recycle, responsibility, health, nature) and negative associations (e.g., climate change, global warming, compromise, poverty) which are always culturally conditioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue, brought together during a time of unprecedented global change, represents a unique collection of papers that shed light on the current and future significance of mycorrhiza‐forming fungi in the human world. Across this selection of papers, we explore the significance and potential of mycorrhizal fungi to contribute towards our achievement of global change goals of improved sustainability, food security and conservation as well as how we might best implement mycorrhizal knowledge and technologies to achieve these outcomes in modern societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ten years after the creation of the National System of Response to Climate Change (snrcc for its acronym in Spanish) in Uruguay, this paper examines the perceptions among local actors about the impacts of climate change on the Northeast region of the country (Departments of Rivera, Tacuarembó and Cerro Largo). It also analyzes their visions about policies and mechanisms of climate governance defined at the national level, focusing some aspects such as articulation and participation. This way the paper aims to generate relevant inputs for the discussion about the design of policies for mitigation and adaptation to this phenomenon in the specific territory considered here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transnational power grid interconnection is an important measure to promote the construction of energy Internet. It can meet the global power demand in a clean and green way, promote the UN's concept of "sustainable energy," and tackle climate changes. But, transnational power grid projects face many complex and variable risks due to their complex background and lacking experience. According to the characteristics of transnational power grid interconnection projects, a risk assessment index system including 10 indexes such as national relation, public participation, and available transmission capacity is constructed. Then, in order to overcome the shortcomings of traditional risk assessment methods, this paper proposes a risk assessment method combined with risk theory and probabilistic model, which can not only consider the uncertainties but also integrate the probability of accidents with consequences. Therefore, it can effectively assess the transnational power grid interconnection projects under diversified risks. In addition, in order to further magnify the impact of higher risks on such projects, a method combining traditional weighting method with the variable weight theory is proposed. The study in this paper provides certain guidance and decision-making support for different participants such as the government power sector, construction enterprises, and investment enterprises when they launch on sustainable development of the transnational project business, which have obvious practical significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Moving Strategically toward the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the UN organized a Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UNSDSN) and a Platform (HLPF) in order to harness the so called Data Revolution that could help to achieve systemically the 17 Goals, by attaining local and globally the corresponding targets. For this purpose, there is a need to keep joining efforts and know-how to develop an appropriate framework and roadmap. This paper may represent a contribution based on the long-time experience of The Millennium Project (MP) dealing with the somehow related 15 Global Challenges. As matter of fact similarly to the SDG Index, the MP developed a State of The Future Index (SOFI) that has being monitoring for some time; and on this paper as an example we'll show for the case of SDG13 that deals with the critical issue of Climate Action, how the MP has being working with its related Global Challenge 1 that deals with Sustainable Development and Climate Change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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

This paper aims to show a structuring of the literature in the field of public policy, namely those that support investment, in the field of investment, with a focus on direct investment, and sustainable development, marked by climate change, pandemic and electricity crisis. Through this study of the literature, I want to find out what is the opinion of the specialists in these 3 mentioned fields. And, to find out if they have already found a relationship between these 3 terms. And later, I will be able to see how my future research can be positioned and how to bring new research elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The close relationship that the 2015 Paris Agreement has with the thirteenth sustainable development goal, "adopt urgent measures to combat climate change and its effects, is indisputable." If we talk about this relationship from the point of view of "action", we can influence the importance of the Nationally Determined Contributions technique, since the commitments acquired by the States Parties to the treaty must be achieved through through a series of actions at the national level. This paper aims to reflect on the need for consistency in the implementation of both the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. In this sense, an analysis will be carried out on the negative effects that, in compliance with both legal instruments, may occur if their implementation is carried out in a fragmented manner and, therefore, without taking into account the links that the objectives of sustainable development they have among themselves and, these, with the technique of Nationally Determined Contributions, within the framework of the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The close relationship that the 2015 Paris Agreement has with the thirteenth sustainable development goal, "adopt urgent measures to combat climate change and its effects, is indisputable." If we talk about this relationship from the point of view of "action", we can influence the importance of the Nationally Determined Contributions technique, since the commitments acquired by the States Parties to the treaty must be achieved through through a series of actions at the national level. This paper aims to reflect on the need for consistency in the implementation of both the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. In this sense, an analysis will be carried out on the negative effects that, in compliance with both legal instruments, may occur if their implementation is carried out in a fragmented manner and, therefore, without taking into account the links that the objectives of sustainable development they have among themselves and, these, with the technique of Nationally Determined Contributions, within the framework of the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The change of government in Uruguay in March 2020 led to some modifications of the country's environmental and climate institutions, including the creation of the new Ministry of Environment and the transfer of the National Climate Change Response System (SNRCC by its acronym in Spanish) to that orbit. The departmental elections of September 2020 brought also some changes in the Northeast region of Uruguay (departments of Rivera, Tacuarembó and Cerro Largo). Considering this context, this work assumes a theoretical perspective of multilevel and multi-stakeholder governance, adopting a qualitative methodological strategy. The objective here is to analyze the current perception of national and territorial actors regarding the policies and mechanisms of climate governance in Uruguay and the region. Consequently, it examines diverse articulations at different levels of government, as well as different dynamics of participation with a focus on climate issues at the national as well as within the territory analyzed. Doing so, the paper aims at evaluating some progress and challenges in this area, in order to contribute to the design and implementation of assertive policies on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities worldwide are struggling to build resilience to the risks posed by climate change for their infrastructures, economies and quality of life. However, no city government has sufficient capacities to fund the adaptations required to ensure such resilience alone. Copenhagen's efforts to secure financing for adaptation and mitigation are investigated, focusing on its innovative arrangements for funding projects to protect against extreme rainfall and flooding. A mixed-methods approach explores how municipal actors and investors accessed finance for supporting transition to a climate-adapted city. Mobilising concepts from the multilevel perspective to analyse the governance and market conditions that facilitate or impede such financing, this paper contributes to sustainable transition theory and the assessment of different funding approaches. The case study confirms the comprehensiveness and effective implementation of the city's plans, especially its innovative financing product for adaptation to urban flooding. However, this approach has knock-on effects for tackling other climate hazards, partnerships and investment urgency. Although extreme rainfall events in 2011-13 opened a valuable 'window of opportunity' for change at the system landscape level, catalysing a radical shift in government policy and investment, this disruption did not elicit a commensurate response from the city's finance sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

The detrimental effects of climate change are becoming pressingly apparent over the decades with policy-makers clumsily grappling with various policies to mitigate on its impacts on their respective economies. However, inefficiencies permeate in the implementation of these policies as they are being implemented only at the end of the process of economic activities. To resolve such a problem, this paper develops an innovative and novel approach to internalize CO 2 emissions by proposing a ramified Taylor rule which captures a climate change premium, the level of which is directly dependent on the extent of deviation of actual CO 2 emissions from its targeted level. The key benefits of the proposed tool are that not only effectiveness level is being bolstered by applying the tool right at the start of the process of economic activities but also that funds collected out of such a climate change premium could empower governments worldwide to vigorously green their economies. The model is tested for a given economy using the DSGE approach with findings attesting to the effectiveness of the proposed tool in curtailing the level CO 2 emissions, independent of the type of monetary shock under scrutiny. Most importantly, depending on the extent of aggressiveness in mitigating the pollutants level, the parameter weight coefficient can be fine-tuned accordingly. • This paper develops an innovative model to internalize CO 2 emissions by linking CO 2 emissions to the macroeconomic state of the economy through the Taylor rule. • The model is tested using DSGE technique on a given economy. • Many benefits emanating from the newly developed model such as policy effectiveness. • A climate change premium is incorporated in the model which can provide funding to green economic activities. • The parameter weight coefficient can be fine-tuned accordingly depending on the degree of aggressiveness of the economy in mitigating CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on the determinants of deforestation, a menace that is posing threat to sustainable development particularly in tropical developing regions. Specifically, the paper focuses on the effect of energy justice and democratization. The main contribution to the literature hinges on the emphasis on energy justice - operationalized as rural-urban equality in access to electricity and clean fuels and technologies for cooking - and its interaction with democracy. Using a panel data of 47 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000–2020 and the dynamic two-step generalized method of moment estimator, the results generally indicate that improvement in rural-urban equality in access to electricity and clean fuels and technologies for cooking is associated with a reduction in deforestation. Democracy is similarly found to be associated with reduction in deforestation. The conditional effect analysis largely depicts an intensified reducing effect of energy justice on deforestation in the presence of improved democratic practices. The results though robust to an alternative estimator, the Driscoll-Kraay estimator, differ when sub-regional analysis is considered. The paper aligns with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goals 7, 13, 15 and 16. • How energy justice and democratization contribute to deforestation is examined. • Energy justice is measured by rural-urban equality in modern energy access. • Participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, liberal and electoral democracy are used. • Improving rural-urban equality in access to modern energy reduces deforestation. • Improving democracy reduces deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The close relationship that the 2015 Paris Agreement has with the thirteenth sustainable development goal, "adopt urgent measures to combat climate change and its effects, is indisputable." If we talk about this relationship from the point of view of “action”, we can influence the importance of the Nationally Determined Contributions technique, since the commitments acquired by the States Parties to the treaty must be achieved through through a series of actions at the national level. This paper aims to reflect on the need for consistency in the implementation of both the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. In this sense, an analysis will be carried out on the negative effects that, in compliance with both legal instruments, may occur if their implementation is carried out in a fragmented manner and, therefore, without taking into account the links that the objectives of sustainable development they have among themselves and, these, with the technique of Nationally Determined Contributions, within the framework of the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In agriculture, farm land is any space or medium that supports agricultural practice/production. This is in tandem with economics which has land as one of the four main factors of production. But ecologically, land can be said to be the solid part of the 'Earth' along with its components in the interior, on the surface (ground level) and above the ground level. These are respectively the rocks and minerals including underground water; the soil and biological matters within and upon it; and the atmosphere. The interactions and interdependency of these factors made land and climate inter-twined and have created series of dynamics and phenomena which have influenced and shall continue to influence all forms of existence on earth. Agriculture which is a principal branch of any national economy is tied in major part to the soil which is the topmost part of land and therefore, farm is tied to ecology and its factors (which include climatic factors). The limit in the size of land available for farming and the continuous decline due to other competing needs of humanity together with the ever-increasing population of the world have made efficient mechanization the panacea for intensification of production to cope with the ever-increasing demand for food and raw materials. The path to overcoming the looming danger is sustainable management, which is present beneficial exploitation, utilization, maintenance, co-ordination and control of resources that ensures the continuous existence / availability for future needs. Certainly, it is now a known fact that changes in climatic conditions/ factors have brought about either positive or negative or both in the different parts of the world, and Nigeria is not an exception. This paper is an original scholarly inquiry based on review of related literatures (academic and public awareness information outlets), reports and physical observations of the authors. The results reveal that a worrisome land management culture and practices at present in Nigeria. This is being worsened by climate change effects of drier (including desert expansion) northern parts and wetter (including coastal erosion, ocean surge, swamp expansion and heavier erosion) southern parts of Nigeria. These coupled with poor handling of wastes, mining operations, pollution from oil spillage and gas flaring; wrong use of chemical (agro-related and environmental Sanitation related); reckless deforestation; etc constitute huge threats. The paper ends with propositions of mitigating actions and ameliorative measures to be taken by stakeholders in land holding and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current work aims to analyze the existing situation in Romania compared to other EU countries, regarding bovines herds, given that this species is one of the ones that causes the highest level of greenhouse gases, with a direct effect on the environment and global warming. This is the reason why the subject has become a priority not only at the community level, but also worldwide. Through the Common Agricultural Policy, important funds have been allocated at the level of the European Union, which will continue to be allocated, not only for the reduction of climate change, but also for the adaptation of the states of the world to these existing climate changes at the global level. Given the path in which animal husbandry influences sustainable development, through the study we have followed both the effective changes, but also the obtained productions, with a direct impact on consumption. It was found that both at the community level, as well as at the national level, there was a decrease in bovines herds in in the period 2016-2020, the reasons being primarily of an economic nature, but equally important being the social and environmental ones. The analysis was carried out starting from the data published by the National Institute of Statistics and Eurostat, data that were then processed and analyzed with the help of statistical methods. Based on these, the conclusions were formulated that show us that in Romania the number of bovines herds decreased by 11% in the period 2016-2021. At the European Union level, Romania ranks 10th in terms of bovines herds and 20th in terms of density/100 ha. Although there are advances in terms of applied technologies or more productive breeds, at the global level the objectives pursued by the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions have not been influenced by these advances, which makes the activity of raising bovines to be considered one with effects negative effects on the environment, but also high consumption of energy and water, which in turn have a negative impact on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The world order is changing, with the lead of the US waning, along with its reduced commitment to rule-based multilateralism during the past administration. China is on the way to becoming number one again, investing abroad with primarily egoistic motives and steered by an authoritarian domestic regime. Meanwhile, the EU is striving for a new geopolitical role, while becoming more heterogenous. Design/methodology/approach: The paper measures performance and competitiveness not only according to conventional criteria but also based on broader welfare indicators. The ultimate aim of competitiveness is to deliver well-being. Decentralized local strategies are presented, but also the need for guidance by societal goals. Findings: What we measure matters. The EU is underperforming in per capita GDP and failing to close the gap in labour productivity towards the frontier defined by the USA. But it is leading in environmental and social indicators, has an accessible health system and provides increasing longevity. This performance nevertheless has to be improved, if climate goals should be fulfilled and upcoming new inequalities addressed. Originality/value: Localization and place-based strategies have advantages, but also harper the danger that negative spillovers may not be minimized and positive not used. Innovation is a search process but has to be directed by goals in Europe and globally. Otherwise, change incurs high costs and many losers, fostering nationalism and populistic calls to return to a past glory that never existed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess the nature of climate litigation at the international level and its role in sustainable development and nature conservation. Climate litigation has allowed claims to be made against governments regarding the climate crisis and companies, especially the largest generators of greenhouse gas emissions. They have also given way to the recognition of the impact and moral responsibility of companies and the lack of action by governments in the global environmental crisis, as well as highlighting the need for each country to establish regulations that promote truly sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latin America shows an accelerated urbanization process and a development model that generate and intensify social and environmental problems. Added to these problems are the risks triggered by climate change that affect today's cities. In Argentina, its effects are manifested differentially over the regions, impacting cities and human settlements. In this scenario, this paper proposes to explore the environmental risk faced by Argentinean cities in a context of climate change from two dimensions: threat and resilience. For this, two synthetic indices were built using the Mean Index Coefficient methodology for each dimension and subsequently the results were articulated by defining risk categories. Results were spatially represented using a Geographic Information System. Gran Posadas, Corrientes, and Salta reach the most unfavorable situations following by Gran La Plata, Gran Mendoza, Gran San Juan, Gran Tucumán-Tafí Viejo, and the Buenos Aires counties. The importance of focusing on adaptation measures under the concept of urban resilience is highlighted. New questions arise from this work and invite further research whose results will allow progress towards sustainability and urban resilience by including them in local policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green infrastructure is being recognized as one of the main strategies for climate emergency mitigation and adaptation in urban contexts. However, there are still very few initiatives in Latin America. This paper explores the Chilean case, in particular the "Stgo+ Green Infrastructure" project, to understand how the climate emergency has been included in green infrastructure planning and the level of priority it has among various types of stakeholders. The research was conducted through a review of planning documents and a participatory methodology, involving institutional, academic, and civil society stakeholders. Chilean urban regulations and territorial planning instruments do not offer much opportunity for the development of green infrastructure systems to face the climate emergency, but there are several indicative instruments that contribute in that sense. On the other hand, there is growing recognition by stakeholders of the importance of green infrastructure, but the climate emergency is an aspect that is still given low priority. The low priority that actors attribute to the climate emergency represents a significant barrier for the incorporation of these issues in public plans and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health of the world's oceans is intrinsically linked to the biodiversity of the ecosystems they sustain. The importance of protecting and maintaining ocean biodiversity has been affirmed through the setting of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 to conserve and sustainably use the ocean for society's continuing needs. The decade beginning 2021–2030 has additionally been declared as the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. This program aims to maximize the benefits of ocean science to the management, conservation, and sustainable development of the marine environment by facilitating communication and cooperation at the science–policy interface. A central principle of the program is the conservation of species and ecosystem components of biodiversity. However, a significant omission from the draft version of the Decade of Ocean Science Implementation Plan is the acknowledgment of the importance of monitoring and maintaining genetic biodiversity within species. In this paper, we emphasize the importance of genetic diversity to adaptive capacity, evolutionary potential, community function, and resilience within populations, as well as highlighting some of the major threats to genetic diversity in the marine environment from direct human impacts and the effects of global climate change. We then highlight the significance of ocean genetic diversity to a diverse range of socioeconomic factors in the marine environment, including marine industries, welfare and leisure pursuits, coastal communities, and wider society. Genetic biodiversity in the ocean, and its monitoring and maintenance, is then discussed with respect to its integral role in the successful realization of the 2030 vision for the Decade of Ocean Science. Finally, we suggest how ocean genetic diversity might be better integrated into biodiversity management practices through the continued interaction between environmental managers and scientists, as well as through key leverage points in industry requirements for Blue Capital financing and social responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional buildings consume large amounts of energy and are the source of greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. The shortage of green buildings in Pakistan have been said to be due to shortage of knowledge of the benefits of essential green building materials and the absence of a regulatory framework. The study is qualitative and quantitative and is divided into two parts. This review paper focuses on awareness in the Pakistan's local construction market concerning green buildings through a survey questionnaire. Data collection procedure consists of 60 questionnaires related to green building construction awareness and priorities within Karachi's construction sector. Also, a focus group and personal interviews conducted with at least 5 professionals working in local construction projects are analyzed. The research questions formed from detailed literature review were analyzed and found that energy conservation, environmental/resource conservation and improving indoor environmental quality are major driving factors for green building development. Similarly, there is a lack of knowledge of green construction methods and regulations and lack of support from the government. This has been found as the major barrier in going towards green construction. We recommend policy directions towards this end and elaborate points of concern to the authorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

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

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

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

Abstract Transdisciplinary research has been introduced as an approach to integrate different bodies of knowledge to learn and to develop solutions towards socio-ecological transformations. In these concepts, broad stakeholder involvement is intended to promote knowledge integration, consensus formation and activation of local actors to initiate and advance learning and change processes. In doing so, however, transdisciplinary processes enter societal battlegrounds and meet conflicting interest and knowledge claims. Thus, building on the discussion on transdisciplinarity in the context of sustainability-related research, the paper seeks to understand when and why which types of conflicts emerge in sustainability-related transdisciplinary research, how they affect knowledge integration, and how they can be resolved. It develops a categorization of conflicts including differing values, conflicting interests, dissimilar claims of legitimacy, and diverse knowledge claims. They are applied empirically in the analysis of a project on regional adaptation to climate change in Northwestern Germany. It studies processes and outcomes with regard to the societal impact of the project and discusses experiences of conflicts and relevant solutions. The paper finds that societally relevant transdisciplinary research processes need to be prepared for conflict resolution and overcoming resistance and blockages in cases when consensus formation and mutual agreement is not attainable. Highlights • Analyses types of conflicts in sustainability-related transdisciplinary research • Finds that conflicts are rarely addressed in this literature • Identifies conflicts from differing values, interests, claims of legitimacy, and knowledge claims • Studies conflicts in an adaptation case in Northwestern Germany • Finds conflicts between values and legitimacy claims in the case study [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

In municipal energy planning, climate change is a key concern. Additionally, a multitude of environmental impacts and associated objectives also need to be addressed. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) should increase environmental consideration in planning, including that of national environmental objectives. This paper investigates the SEA screening practice and its effect on the execution of SEA as well as the inclusion of national environmental objectives in Swedish energy and climate planning. The results show that due to low execution and quality of screening, SEA is seldom conducted. However, environmental objectives in which synergies and conflicts can occur in relation to the climate objective were more often included in policy documents when environmental assessment had been conducted, thus indicating that they are incorporated into the basis for planning and decision-making in those processes. If SEA can highlight local co-benefits through this approach, it can facilitate building local support for climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attainment of sustainability is the overarching objective of impact assessment (IA). Over the years, IA has evolved from being a predominantly biophysicalenvironment assessment venture to a multicentric undertaking including hundreds of IA modes. IA's proliferation has been attributed to the inadequacy of previously dominant modes (e.g. Environmental Impact Assessment and Social Impact Assessment) to cater to other areas of humanity's concerns or recent phenomena. Climate change is one of such phenomena and the conceptualization of climate change impact assessment has been the response of the IA movement. Drawing lessons from the Lower Churchill project in Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada), this paper argues that a climate change centric IA risks overlooking, triggering or exacerbating other sustainability challenges. This possibility is even more acute in projects misconstrued as sustainable given their low emission characteristic. An integrated approach to IA with sustainability as the organizing principle is proposed as key to preventing climate change from becoming another frontier of unsustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

• The paper analysed a case study on the monitoring system of an Italian food company. • The study creates a tailor-made environmental Key Performance Indicators dashboard to assess corporate sustainability. • The study investigated rewards systems in the frame of Green Human Resource Management practices. • A final dashboard of around 70 indicators was then created and linked to employees' rewards. Assessing environmental performance, measuring the circular economy and quantifying decarbonization have become crucial in green management in recent years. Both scholars and practitioners have focused on different strategies to create performance indicators capable of tackling all these aspects. At the same time, companies have started connecting managers' and employees' incentives to the achievement of corporate goals. We analysed a case study of an Italian food company which uses environmental performance indicators to assess corporate sustainability and reward managers and employees. Through a series of interviews with members from all departments, we identified around 200 different key performance indicators, i.e., performance, commitment, control, reactivity, economic, consent, transversal and multifunctional. A final dashboard of around 70 indicators was then created and linked to employees' rewards. A tailor-made methodology was, thus, used to define target for the company's management by objectives, taking into account the trend of each indicator. This is the first attempt to investigate how a company can create an environmental performance indicator system to assess corporate sustainability and reward employees through management by objectives. Our study further extends not only the academic literature, but also provides a practical and operative contribution to all the companies that aim to create a new key performance indicator system. Lastly, we merged the management and strategies for promoting green practices amongst employees through a reward system with the environmental performance of each organisational department by creating a methodology to define management by objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, China has achieved numerous economic miracles but it has also been plagued by severe air pollution. The frequent hazy weather has severely restricted China's sustainable development. To investigate the nonlinear threshold effect of socio-economic factors on urban haze in China, this study constructs a spatial econometric Smooth Transition Autoregressive Regression (STAR) model based on the STIRPAT theory by using the remote sensing inversion PM 2.5 data of 223 prefecture-level and above cities in China mainland during 2004–2016. In this study, the ARAR-STAR model is estimated by quasi-maximum likelihood estimation, and the accuracy of parameter estimation is verified by Monte Carlo simulation, which proves that the ARAR-STAR model constructed in this study is robust. It is concluded that: there is a complex spatial nonlinear relationship between socio-economic factors such as economic development level, population density, advanced industrial structure, energy consumption, opening-up, and haze pollution. The effect of socio-economic factors on haze emission reduction under the spatial influence has complex heterogeneity with the smooth transition between high and low regimes with economic development. The ARAR-STAR model constructed in this paper, which has both individual fixed effects and time fixed effects, expands the form of existing spatial panel nonlinear models and enriches and implements the application of spatial panel smooth transfer threshold models in the environmental field. Not only can it provide policy recommendations for China to achieve "coordinated efficiency in pollution reduction and carbon reduction" as soon as possible, but it also contributes to China's plan to address global climate change and promote global sustainable development. • Using spatial panel smooth transition autoregressive regression model for 2004–2016, we revisit the nonlinear effects of socio-economic factors on urban haze in China. • The ARAR-STAR model is estimated by quasi-maximum likelihood estimation. • We employ Monte Carlo simulation to obtain robust results. • The effect of population density, industrial structure, energy consumption, opening-up on haze emission has heterogeneity with the smooth transition between high and low regimes with economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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