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This study is intended to expose the connectedness of green financing and other green policies like renewable energy and technological progress towards identifying the best practice to achieve climate goal cum sustainable environmental development for China within the period 1985–2021. Amid the increased utilization of fossil fuels in China's economic activities and its position as the highest carbon emitting country in the world, China is considered a financial stable economy with access to renewable energy source such as hydroelectric power. For effective research into the objective of this study, the study builds on mechanism of the green finance—renewable—technology and emission nexus with the help of linear dynamics of ARDL bound and VECM granger causality methods. Empirical results from both approaches have given insight to the selected objectives of this study. According to ARDL dynamics: (i) the coefficients of linear (1.802) and non-linear(− 1.860) (i.e. square term) of financial development are positively and negatively connected to the carbon emissions. This confirms the presence of inverted U-shape relationship between the financial development and carbon emissions. (ii) the relationship between hydroelectric power representing renewable energy and CO2 is negative—(− 0.19) and significant at 1% level. This results depicts the reduction power of hydroelectric power on CO2, (iii) also, a negative (− 0.000982) linkage between number of patent application representing technological innovation and environmental development through carbon emissions responses is established. Also, findings from VECM granger causality approach back the findings from ARDL through a nexus between the variables of interest (finance, hydroelectric power, and technology and carbon emissions). Findings point to the ability of green financing to reduce carbon emissions if green financing policies are utilized effectively in regulating carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the two-stage innovation value chain model, incorporating environmental regulation policies and three-waste emissions into the research framework, constructing a green technology innovation efficiency evaluation index system from the perspectives of green inputs and outputs, and utilizing the super-efficiency SBM model and the Malmquist-Luenberger index model, assessing the effectiveness of green technological innovation in two aspects, namely, static, and dynamic, respectively. The results show that: the average value of green technical innovation efficiency of China's hightech industries is 0.5277, with significant differences between provinces, but the overall is constantly improving, showing an upward trend; the green technological innovation efficiency decreases from east to west, and the differences among the three major regions are not only embodied in spatial patterns, but also in the growth rate; during the period of investigation, the inefficient provinces are gradually decreasing, and the level of green technological innovation of China is constantly getting better; China's The average value of ML index of green technical innovation efficiency of high-tech industries in China is greater than 1, and the overall development trend is better; the increase of ML index in the eastern and central regions mainly relies on the positive influence of technological efficiency, while the decrease of ML index in the western part is affected by the recession of technological progress and technological efficiency, and the efficiency of technology research and development stage is generally higher than that of scientific and technical achievements transformation stage, and low efficiency of achievements transformation stage is mainly affected by the inhibiting effect of technological progress - inhibitory effect of technological advancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reasonable risk-taking is an important prerequisite for corporate green transformation. How environmental regulation policies affect corporate risk-taking is an issue worthy of discussion under the background of the development of economic and social green transformation. Based on a theoretical analysis of the effects of environmental regulations, this study used the data of China’ s A-share listed companies from 2004 to 2019 to empirically test the impact of environmental regulation policies on corporate risk-taking. The study found that: ① The strengthening of environmental regulations would significantly increase the level of corporate risk-taking. ② The mechanism test found that both the ‘dynamic effect’ of environmental regulations promoting technological progress and market competition efficiency and the ‘pressure effect’ aggravating enterprises’ production costs and the degree of enterprises’ shadow banking activities would lead to a rise in the level of corporate risk-taking. ③ The regional innovation environment and the cost transfer ability of enterprises significantly affected the policy effect of environmental regulations on improving corporate risk-taking. ④ Further re⁃ search showed that environmental regulations promoted corporate risk-taking, reduced the environmental performance of enterprises, and improved the default risk of enterprises, indicating that the negative effect brought by ‘pressure effect’ occupied a dominant position. This study has not only enriched the research on the effects of environmental regulation policies, but also expanded the research horizons of factors affecting corporate risk-taking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the impact of environmental regulation, an important measure promoting the construction of ecological civiliza⁃ tion, on green total factor productivity has increasingly become a hot spot. This article attemptd to consider the spatial effect in order to study the nonlinear spatio-temporal impact of investment-oriented environmental regulations dominated by government pollution control on green total factor productivity. Firstly, from the perspective of intra-regional and inter-regional interaction, it revealed the theoretical mechanism of investment-oriented environmental regulations affecting green total factor productivity and examined the characteristic facts of its nonlinear influence relationship. Secondly, based on the goal of green and low-carbon transformation, the non-radial SBM di⁃ rectional distance function method, including outputs such as carbon emissions and PM2.5, was used to measure the provincial-level green total factor productivity from 2001 to 2019 and to decompose the contributions of pure efficiency, technological progress, and scale efficiency. Thirdly, this article selected spatial econometric models based on the Queen adjacency weight matrix and the geograph⁃ ical distance weight matrix to analyze the nonlinear spatio-temporal impact of investment-oriented environmental regulations on green total factor productivity. The multi-threshold model was further used to test the regional impact mechanism of investment environmentaloriented regulation on green total factor productivity. The research results showed that: ① Compared to 2001-2011, the national green total factor productivity growth increased significantly from 2012 to 2019, and the regional gap in green total factor productivity had a narrowing overall trend. ② When considering spatial effects, there was an inverted U-shaped relationship between investment-oriented environmental regulations and green total factor productivity. This degree of influence had temporal and spatial heterogeneity, that is, the degree of inverted U-shaped influence was more prominent during 2001-2011 and in the central and western regions. It showed that the degree of inverted U-shaped influence was related to the effect of technological progress. ③ From the perspective of spatial spillover effects, green total factor productivity had significant spatial correlation characteristics, and investment-oriented environmen⁃ tal regulations at the national level had a significant positive spatial spillover effects on green total factor productivity. The spatial spill⁃ over effects of different periods and regions were heterogeneous. ④ When the energy consumption per unit GDP met a certain threshold condition, the improvement of investment-oriented environmental regulation could have a positive effect on green total factor productivi⁃ ty. Finally, countermeasures and suggestions are put forward from the aspects of comprehensive environmental regulation tools, con⁃ struction of regionally coordinated and efficient environmental regulation policies, exploration of cross-regional ecological compensation mechanisms, strengthening green technology transformation, and adjusting industrial structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we assess the sustainability of the electricity sector and explore the correlation between government environmental policies and the sector's sustainability. We find that at the national level, the sustainability of the electricity sector has exhibited a notable upward trend in recent years. However, this trend has not been evenly distributed across different regions of the country. Second, government environmental policies have a significant positive impact on promoting the sustainability of the electricity sector. Third, the impact of government environmental policies on the sustainability of the electricity sector is more pronounced in the western region of China. • We explore the impact of government environmental policy on the sustainability of China's electricity sector. • Government environmental policies can significantly promote the sustainability of China's electricity sector. • Technological progress is an effective channel between government environmental policies and the sustainability of the electricity sector. • The sustainability of the electricity sector is most significantly impacted by the environmental policies of the government in western China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to explore the impact of technological innovation on economic performance all regions in China is studied from different environmental regulation. The panel data of 30 provinces from 2007 to 2017 are collected, and variables reflecting environmental regulation and technological innovation are designed. Multivariate linear regression analysis is used to verify how technological innovation affects economic performance before and after environmental regulation is added. The results show that technological innovation has a significant positive impact on economic performance, and technological innovation has still a positive impact on economic performance after addingenvironmental regulation.The eastern region is superior to the central and western regions in terms of environmental regulation policy, technological innovation and economic performance, and in dealing with the relationship among those three. Therefore, on the basis of implementing appropriate environmental regulations, the government encourages technological innovation and increases D expenditure appropriately, which is conducive to improving sales revenue of new products and increasing economic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural gas is a crucial transitional energy for Pakistan to attain the emission reduction goal for sustainable economic growth. To imply environmentally-friendly fuel and save foreign exchange, huge indigenous resources can be used. Under sustainable policies, Pakistan's natural gas is predicted to adequately rise, which will significantly impact energy security, economy and environment. The objective of the study is to analyze NGC factors' decomposition in Pakistan from 1996 to 2020, applying the logarithmic mean Divisia index method to provide evidence of the effect of key factors, including NGC intensity, income and population effects. The results show that: (a) during 1996–2020, natural gas is raised maximally due to the rise in income and population levels. (b) Population effect was the second key driver of gas rising, while the intensity effect was added to slow down during the maximum intervals. With the rising trend of a population between 0.12 and 0.22 billion, it is the only leading factor that is increasing the NGC to maximum level. (c) The sectorial outcomes influenced population growth with positive income, evidenced by the per capita. Looking forward to the energy targets, prediction highlights that sustainability and energy security could be guaranteed by modifying technological progress and environmental policies. • Natural gas intensity, income and population are studied under planning period. • Logarithmic mean Divisia index method is employed to evaluate NGC factors. • Income and population factors are the key driver of NGC growth. • NGC intensity was contributed to slow down during the maximum intervals. • Sectorial differences impacted the population growth with positive income growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of environmental regulations on the nexus between financial development and biased technological innovation is a prerequisite for optimizing systems of environmental and financial policies to gain sustainable development goals (SDGs) in emerging markets. Drawing on China's city-level data from 2003 to 2018, we established econometric models and obtained the following empirical results. Financial development (FD) can promote energy- and environmental-biased technological progress, but, owing to the inverted U-shaped relationship, economic development, and resource endowment, the impact that FD has on biased technological progress is heterogeneous; unreasonable FD will also hinder green technological progress. Threshold model shows that with the improvement of environmental regulation, the impact of energy- and environmental-biased technological progress is also increasing. The development of green finance under SDGs is an important driving force in green technological progress. Finally, we offer suggestions to optimize environmental and financial policymaking and implementation from a government intervention perspective. [Display omitted] • It is important to optimize environmental and financial policies to gain SDGs. • Environmental policies are affected by technological and financial developments. • Financial development (FD) promotes energy- and environmental-technological growth. • Due to an inverted U-shaped relationship biased FD hinders green technology growth. • Green finance development under SDGs will drive green technological progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, changes in total factor productivity of 12 Korean offshore fisheries between 1997 and 2009 were estimated through the Malmquist productivity index, which is a nonparametric method. Also, the cause of such changes in productivity of each fishery was analyzed more specifically by segmenting into factors for technological progress and technical efficiency. As a result of this analysis, the total factor productivity change of the entire offshore fisheries was −6.0 %. Changes in the technical efficiency and technological level factors, respectively, contributed 0.2 and −6.2 % to this rate of decrease in total factor productivity; that is, inactivity of technological progress led to the decrease in productivity of the offshore fisheries. In addition, technological progress and technical efficiency were found to differently influence the change in total factor productivity of each fishery. In order for each fishery to improve productivity, better rational fisheries management policies by the government and efforts by the fishing industry and individual fishing business units must accompany factors that promote productivity increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As part of its efforts to reach the targets of the Kyoto Protocol, in April 2009 the European Commission enacted new legislation to reduce the per-kilometer CO2 emissions of newly registered automobiles. This paper critically assesses this legislation with respect to its economic and technological underpinnings. First, we argue that the reliance on targets based on per-kilometer emissions not only conceals the true cost of compliance and thereby stifles informed public discourse, but is also less cost-effective than alternative measures such as emissions trading. Second, the emission targets stipulated in this legislation are based on linear-regression methods that we demonstrate to be poorly justified and misleading. Using instead stochastic-frontier analysis, which is argued to more accurately reflect the industry’s technological status quo, alternative targets are consequently proposed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigates the effect of a CO2 tax on profitability by using firm-level data on output and inputs from Swedish industry between 1990 and 2004. The purpose of this exercise is to investigate the validity of the so-called Porter hypothesis. By utilizing a factor-demand modeling approach, and specifying a profit function that has a technology component dependent upon firm-specific effective tax on CO2, we are able to separate out the effect of regulatory pressure on technological progress. The results indicate that there is evidence of a “reversed” Porter effect in most industrial sectors, especially in energy-intensive industries; that is, after controlling for the fuel price effect, technological progress and consequently profits are further negatively affected by the CO2 tax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US Clean Air Act Amendments introduce an emissions trading system to regulate SO2 emissions. This study finds that changes in SO2 emissions prices are related to innovations induced by these amendments. We find that electricity-generating plants are able to increase electricity output and reduce emissions of SO2 and NO x from 1995 to 2007 due to the introduction of the allowance trading system. However, compared to the approximate 8% per year of exogenous technological progress, the induced effect is relatively small, and the contribution of the induced effect to overall technological progress is about 1–2%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is understood in portions of academia and sometimes acknowledged in political circles. Nevertheless, there is not a unified response. In political and policy circles, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) is posited to solve the conflict between economic growth and environmental protection. In academia, however, the EKC has been deemed fallacious in macroeconomic scenarios and largely irrelevant to biodiversity. A more compelling response to the conflict is that it may be resolved with technological progress. Herein I review the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation in the absence of technological progress, explore the prospects for technological progress to reconcile that conflict, and provide linguistic suggestions for describing the relationships among economic growth, technological progress, and biodiversity conservation. The conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation is based on the first two laws of thermodynamics and principles of ecology such as trophic levels and competitive exclusion. In this biophysical context, the human economy grows at the competitive exclusion of nonhuman species in the aggregate. Reconciling the conflict via technological progress has not occurred and is infeasible because of the tight linkage between technological progress and economic growth at current levels of technology. Surplus production in existing economic sectors is required for conducting the research and development necessary for bringing new technologies to market. Technological regimes also reflect macroeconomic goals, and if the goal is economic growth, reconciliatory technologies are less likely to be developed. As the economy grows, the loss of biodiversity may be partly mitigated with end-use innovation that increases technical efficiency, but this type of technological progress requires policies that are unlikely if the conflict between economic growth and biodiversity conservation (and other aspects of environmental protection) is not acknowledged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the effect of environmental policy on the composition of capital is investigated. By allowing for nonlinearities it generalizes Xepapadeas and De Zeeuw (J. Environ. Econ. Manage. 37 (1999) 165) and determines scenarios in which their results do not carry over. In particular, we show that the way acquisition cost of investment decreases with the age of the capital stock is of crucial importance. We also focus more explicitly on learning and technological progress. Among others we obtain that in the presence of learning, implementing a stricter environmental policy with the aim to reach a certain target of emissions reduction has a stronger negative effect on industry profits, which implies quite the opposite as to what is described by the Porter hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Environmental regulations are often intended to stimulate the generation and adoption of eco-efficient innovations. An important argument in the public debate is also the creation of new markets for environmentally benign products, processes and services in other countries and the generation, as a result, of export opportunities for the pioneering country (lead markets). Research on lead markets has not, however, focused on environmental innovations to date. We therefore extend the lead market model to environmental innovations and take particular account of the peculiarities of such innovations, in particular, the public good character of environmental benefits and the role of regulations. This approach is applied to two case studies: wind energy and fuel-efficient passenger cars. In both cases, the innovation was initially adopted in one country. Other countries subsequently adopted the same innovation design favored by the lead market which, in turn, developed into a large exporter in the wind generation and car industries, respectively. We discuss the regulations employed and the reasons for the international success of the innovations induced by them. Our findings demonstrate that when supported by global demand or regulatory trends, strict regulation results in the creation of lead markets. Finally, we provide recommendations on how our model could be used for further research and in the development of a coordinated environmental and innovation policy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article focuses on the sustainability indicators for the water industry. The Great Britain water industry has by the nature of its business always been required to be environmentally responsible and to provide a good value for money service to customers. However, the wider sustainability agenda is now increasingly important for all Great Britain industrial sectors, and being promoted by initiatives such as the Government's Pioneers Group work on sectoral sustainability. The water industry realised that in order to become more sustainable, it needed to be able to assess its position and measure progress towards sustainability. It developed a set of environmental sustainability indicators and publicly reported against these in 2000.