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Prior research on inventory control has been wide ranging, yet the environmental implications of an $ ({s,S}) $ (s , S) inventory policy remain uninvestigated. This paper seeks to bridge the gap by characterising a firm's voluntary environmental policy in the setup of an $ ({s,S}) $ (s , S) inventory control policy. We suggest a mixed model structure wherein, due to the presence of fixed production costs, the inventory is determined continuously by sales and impulsively with ordering decisions obeying an optimal stopping process, while the uncertain sales process is controlled by continuous-time environmental goodwill-related decisions. We show that a firm should successively use voluntary environmental efforts to stimulate its sales when there is inventory and to increase backlogging to improve its production efficiency. Given the recurrent pattern of this policy, we conclude that voluntary environmental efforts under an $ ({s,S}) $ (s , S) inventory control is not compatible with using these efforts as a means to generate ephemeral reputation insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Recently enacted environmental justice policies in the United States at the state and federal level emphasize addressing place-based inequities, including persistent disparities in air pollution exposure and associated health impacts. Advances in air quality measurement, models, and analytic methods have demonstrated the importance of finer-scale data and analysis in accurately quantifying the extent of inequity in intraurban pollution exposure, although the necessary degree of spatial resolution remains a complex and context-dependent question. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this commentary were to a) discuss ways to maximize and evaluate the effectiveness of efforts to reduce air pollution disparities, and b) argue that environmental regulators must employ improved methods to project, measure, and track the distributional impacts of new policies at finer geographic and temporal scales. DISCUSSION: The historic federal investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the Biden Administrations commitment to Justice40 present an unprecedented opportunity to advance climate and energy policies that deliver real reductions in pollution-related health inequities. In our opinion, scientists, advocates, policymakers, and implementing agencies must work together to harness critical advances in air quality measurements, models, and analytic methods to ensure success. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13063.

While some degree of competition is present in many authoritarian regimes, the implications of such controlled competition on international issues have not received much consideration, including towards international environmental accords. We attempt to rectify this through a framework where we focus on internal political competition in a hybrid, nondemocratic system where national elections are held regularly. Specifically, we argue that the presence of multiple actors competing in elections in nondemocratic settings results in them assuming positions on various issues, justifying their positions, and attempting to mobilize their supporters with considerable implications for international environmental policies. We display our argument in the context of Iranian debates on the ratification of the Paris Climate Accords. Our findings demonstrate that the competing Iranian sides rely on different justifications for their environmental positions, resulting in extensive (negative) competitions of rhetoric where the international dimension emerges as an important feature in the internal competition. Overall, we show that political competition within non-democracies is likely to add to the complexity of international (environmental) negotiations and cooperation. Keywords: internatonal negotatons on climate change; competng narratves and electons in authoritarian regimes; politcal factons; environment and sanctons; regime survival, Introduction The Paris Climate Change Agreement, a legally binding international treaty that sets goals for temperature increases, was adopted by 196 parties at the United Nations (UN) Climate Change Conference [...]

Today, Ukraine find itself in a very difficult situation, on the one hand, the already unstable economy has just begun to recover after the coronavirus crisis; on the other hand, it is suffering colossal losses from Russian aggression. The article examines the current economic and ecological state of Ukraine, considering the influence of such drastic external factors as a military invasion with the aim of determining the prerequisites for the formation of an effective social and environmental policy and developing approaches to the improvement and stabilization of the national economy. To achieve the goals of the article, have been used intersectoral balance and in particular economic impact analysis (EIA), which was conducted on the example of the Ukrainian agricultural sector, because it is one of the three driving forces of its economy. The results of the study showed the scenarios of possible changes and their consequences for the economy of the state as a whole, and in the future can be used for study in order to develop new and improve existing methods of solving socio-economic problems at the national level and preserving natural capital, as one of the key elements on path to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many nations are struggling to reduce deforestation, despite having extensive environmental protection laws in place and commitments to international agreements that address the biodiversity and climate crises. We developed a novel framework to quantify the extent to which contemporary deforestation is being captured under national and subnational laws. We then applied this framework to northern Australia as a case study, a development and deforestation hotspot with ecosystems of global significance. First, deforestation may be compliant under all relevant legislation, either through assessment and approval or because of exemptions in the legislation. Second, deforestation may be compliant under at least one relevant law, but not all. Third, there may be no evidence of deforestation assessment or exemption from assessment, despite their apparent requirement, which could mean the deforestation is potentially noncompliant. Finally, deforestation may occur in an area or under circumstances that are beyond the intended scope of any relevant legislation. All deforestation that we analyzed was hypothetically covered by one or more laws. However, 65% of deforestation was potentially noncompliant with at least one law. Because multiple laws could be relevant to a given clearing event, the majority of clearing was still compliant with at least one law, but of these events, only a small proportion was explicitly approved (19%). The remaining were permitted under various exemptions. Of all the legislation we analyzed, most of the exempt clearing occurred under one subnational law and most potentially noncompliant clearing occurred under one national law. Our results showed that even a nation with a suite of mature environmental protection laws is falling well short of achieving international commitments regarding deforestation. Our framework can be used to pinpoint the pathways of policy change required for nations to align local laws with these international accords. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the carbon emissions trading pilot policy in China, this paper takes Chinese A‐share listed companies from 2012 to 2020 as a sample, and analyzes the role of company's cost transfer capability (ECTC) in the mechanism of market‐incentivized environmental regulation policy (MERP) influencing company green transformation. This paper finds the following four primary results. First, ECTC significantly strengthens the green transformation driving effect of MERP in general. However, results based on the division of ECTC by percentiles show that MERP‐induced green transformation is more pronounced in the top 25% of companies, which distinguishes them from companies in the top 25%–50%, whose cost transfer capacity hampers MERP's contribution to the green transformation. Second, the level of regional economic development, emission regulation, and business reputation have heterogeneous influences on the moderating effect of ECTC. Third, the results based on the moderated mediation model show that ECTC can influence the green transition driving effect of MERP by moderating the two paths of risk‐taking ability and financing constraints of companies. Finally, there is a diffusion effect on the green transformation driven by MERP through cost transfer among companies in non‐pilot industries and non‐pilot regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The deviation between the stated intentions and actual actions of rural residents regarding waste classification constitutes a significant impediment to the effective implementation of environmental management strategies in rural areas. It is therefore recommended that steps be taken to reduce the deviation between the stated intentions and actual behaviors of rural residents. Doing so will help to reinforce environmental governance in rural communities and provide the necessary support for rural revitalization. Methods: This study establishes an analytical framework for examining the deviation between the internal perceived efficacy and external environmental policies among rural residents. The relationship between intention and behavior can be classified into three distinct scenarios: "intention with behavior," "intention without behavior," and "no intention with behavior." Furthermore, an empirical analysis is conducted using survey data collected by Nanjing Agricultural University in the China Land Economic Survey in June and July 2021. Result: The results show that 1) the perceived efficacy has a significant positive influence on the deviation between the intention and behavior of rural residents in domestic waste classification, while the environmental policy has a significant negative effect on it; 2) the guiding policy has a significant negative moderating effect on the influence of perceived efficacy on the deviation between the intention and behavior of rural residents and the situation of "with intention and without behavior," while the reward-punishment policy has a significant positive moderating effect on the influence of perceived efficacy on "without intention and behavior;" 3) the perceived efficacy has a masking effect on the impact of environmental policies on the deviation between the intention and behavior or "with intention and without behavior" of rural residents and a partial mediating effect on the impact of the environmental policy on "with intention and behavior" or "without intention and behavior." Discussion: In consideration of these findings, the study proposes policy recommendations that emphasize the interconnectivity of the government, village collective organizations, and rural residents. The recommendations include the implementation of environmental policies and initiatives designed to enhance rural residents' awareness of waste classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much research and media attention has revolved around the environmental impacts of growing global human populations. While the conclusions remain contested, these assessments have largely neglected the ecological and conservation impacts of other key regional processes such as declining populations, ageing demographics and rural‐to‐urban migration. These demographic shifts are increasingly prevalent across many regions of the world, and will have significant direct effects on natural resource management and biodiversity conservation by altering individual consumption patterns, land use, land stewardship and natural disturbances. Given that the scientific foundation around this topic is still developing, we first present an initial examination of some of the key environmental impacts, aiming to elevate awareness and encourage further research in these areas. Beyond the ecological implications, declining populations, ageing demographics and rural‐to‐urban migration carry intricate social and cultural consequences that can affect people and nature interactions. Ecological studies that focus on single dimensions of biodiversity or ecosystem responses often overlook these complexities. Demographic changes are likely to be accompanied by shifts in environmental attitudes and connections with nature, all of which will influence our capacity to adapt to or mitigate environmental changes. Finally, environmental policy and practice frameworks are potentially unprepared and their success could be sensitive to these socio‐cultural and demographic shifts. Synthesis and applications: This brief overview demonstrates that population decline, ageing and rural‐to‐urban migration can have extensive implications for biodiversity and the socio‐cultural relationships between people and nature. However, the significance, dynamics and consequences of these processes are still largely overlooked. We believe that these changes warrant specific attention from the research, policy and practice communities, as understanding the outcomes and feedbacks associated with depopulation, ageing populations, loss of culture and tradition and ecological change could aid in designing landscapes and informing management that enhances both human well‐being and biodiversity conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, held in the United Arab Emirates at the end of November 2023, stated that climate action cannot be delayed and the financing and investment situation for adapting to climate change needs a qualitative leap. Vigorously developing green finance is one of the important ways to achieve this goal. The core question of this paper is: Can green finance policies promote enterprises' environmental investment? This article uses the formal implementation of the "Green Credit Guidelines" in 2012 as a quasi-natural experiment, bases on the micro data of A-share listed companies from 2004 to 2020, and adopts the difference-indifferences propensity score matching method (PSM-DID) to explore the role of green credit policy in guiding corporate environmental protection investment from multiple dimensions. The research shows that the implementation of the "Green Credit Guidelines" has promoted corporate environmental protection investment to a certain extent, and the conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. Heterogeneity tests found that the impact of green credit policy on corporate environmental protection investment varies significantly among different ownership enterprises and enterprises in different regions. Further research shows that the Green Credit Guidelines are regulated by macro and meso factors. From the perspective of mechanism, this paper finds out the mechanism of promoting enterprises' environmental protection investment at the micro level. At the macro level, economic policy uncertainty and monetary policy tightening affect the degree of corporate environmental protection investment. At the meso level, the government's attention to environmental protection determines the behavior of local enterprises, which in turn affects the attitude of enterprises towards environmental protection investment activities. At the micro level, the implementation of green credit on the one hand exacerbates the problem of corporate financing constraints, making companies have incentives to invest in environmental protection to alleviate this problem. On the other hand, it will also promote changes in innovation and capital factors in enterprises, directly increasing corporate environmental protection investment. This paper is helpful for the theoretical circle and management departments, so as to provide reference for the government to issue relevant policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing increasingly pressing environmental issues, driving green transformation through innovation has become a necessary path for the future development of companies. Empirical analysis based on the sample of listed companies in the transportation sector in China from 2011 to 2021 reveals that digital transformation in transportation companies can promote green innovation. Furthermore, the impact of digital transformation on green innovation is sustained, with the lagged effect of digital transformation having a greater influence on green innovation than the current effect. The study also discovers the presence of a mediating effect of financing constraints between digital transformation and green innovation. Further research, using the promulgation of the Digital Transportation Development Plan Outline in 2017 as a quasi-natural experiment, employs the difference-in-differences method to verify the impact of the policy on green innovation in transportation companies before and after its implementation. The results demonstrate the introduction of digital policies contributes to promoting green innovation in companies. Economic consequences research suggests that green innovation can effectively reduce carbon emissions intensity. With the goal of the "carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" strategy, actively promoting the integration of digitalization and green innovation is crucial for enhancing the sustainable development of transportation companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilization (CCS/CCU) is critical for achieving net-zero emissions. Although the recent surge in CCS/CCU projects announcement, there is a clear gap between announced capacity (around 400 Mt CO2 per year) and the Net Zero Emissions (NZE) scenario deployment target (around 1 Gt per year) by 2030. This review examines breakthroughs and advancements across both established and emerging CCS/CCU systems with different Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) in various industrial sectors, emphasizing the necessity of prospective assessments for their acceleration and scalability. It examines the development and application of prospective Life Cycle Assessment (pLCA) and prospective Techno-Economic Assessment (pTEA), highlighting their limitations and importance of their outcomes in decision-making processes. Differences between the evolving dynamics of the technological systems (foreground) and the evolution of the overall socioeconomic system (background) are discussed. Incorporating scenario data from Integrated Assessment Models (lAMs) into pLCA and pTEA reveals an iterative relationship that significantly influences the outcome of both the environmental assessments and the economics of large- scale production of the CCS/CCU systems under study. This, in turn, could reshape investment strategies towards advanced technologies, necessitating their consideration within the evolving structure of lAMs. It is concluded that the inherent limitations of CCS/CCU technologies at an early stage of development require quantitative uncertainty analysis and demand robustness, interdisciplinary collaboration, policy intervention, and data transparency. The rigorous evaluative frameworks are key for developing economic, environmental and climate policies and enable well-informed decisions across rapidly evolving sectors. A framework is proposed in this review, outlining a multistep process that includes a series of databases and open-source tools to interface pTEA and pLCA with enhanced lAMs for CCS/CCU, demonstrating its potential to improve decision-making and policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of protecting forests and woodlands to achieve global climate and biodiversity goals, logging impacts persist worldwide. Forestry advocates often downplay these impacts but rarely consider the cumulative threat deforestation and degradation has had, and continues to have, on biodiversity. Using New South Wales (Australia) as a case study, we quantify the extent of deforestation and degradation from 1788 (pre‐European colonization) to 2021. We used historical loss as a baseline to evaluate recent logging (2000–2022) and the condition of the remaining native forest and woodland. Condition was quantified by measuring the similarity of a current ecosystem to a historical reference state with high ecological integrity. Using these data, we measured the impacts on 269 threatened terrestrial species. We show that possibly over half (29 million ha) of pre‐1788 native forest and woodland vegetation in NSW has been lost. Of the remaining 25 million ha, 9 million ha is estimated to be degraded. We found recent logging potentially impacted 150 species that had already been affected by this historical deforestation and degradation, but the impacts varied across species. Forty‐three species that were identified as impacted by historical deforestation and degradation and continue to be impacted by logging, now have ≤50% of their pre‐1788 extent remaining that is intact and nine species now have ≤30%. Our research contextualizes the impact of current logging against historical deforestation and highlights deficiencies in environmental assessments that ignore historical baselines. Future land management must consider both the extent and condition of remaining habitat based on pre‐1788 extents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposal of the "dual carbon" targets has provided direction for promoting China's economic green transformation and green innovation. As enterprises are important entities driving technological innovation in China, enhancing their green innovation capabilities holds significant practical significance for reducing carbon emissions. While the flourishing development of the digital economy currently provides new avenues and impetus for enterprise green innovation, research on the micro-level effects of green innovation driven by digital economy is still lacking. Therefore, based on data from Chinese cities spanning 2010 to 2021 and micro-level data of listed enterprises, this paper employs fixed effect model and intermediary effect model to empirically test the effect and mechanism of urban digital economy development on the quality and quantity of enterprise green innovation. Additionally, it investigates the carbon emission reduction effect resulting from digital economy development. The findings are as follows: (1) The development of digital economy exhibits a significant green innovation effect, effectively enhancing both the "quality and quantity" of enterprise green innovation. Particularly noteworthy is its impact on the quality of green innovation in enterprises, a result corroborated by several robustness tests. (2) Promoting regional knowledge spillover and alleviating enterprise financing constraints emerge as mechanisms through which the digital economy enhances the "quality and quantity" of enterprise green innovation. (3) Heterogeneity testing reveals that the digital economy exerts a greater green innovation effect on enterprises located in regions characterized by higher environmental regulations, high-tech industries, and state-owned enterprises. (4) Further analysis demonstrates that the digital economy effectively reduces enterprises carbon emissions and enhances their carbon performance by driving green innovation, thus providing endogenous impetus for achieving the "dual carbon" goals. By examining the effects and mechanisms of green innovation driven by digital economy from the perspectives of promoting knowledge spillover and alleviating financing constraints, this study enriches theoretical research on the relationship between the digital economy and green innovation at the enterprise micro-level. It offers new insights for governments in formulating green innovation policies and serves as a reference for green innovation decision-making in other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology innovation is a critical factor in ensuring the long-term stable development of renewable energy enterprises. Based on the super network theory, this paper constructs a network model of green technology innovation influencing factors of renewable energy enterprises, which includes the knowledge sub-network of green technology innovation of renewable energy enterprises, the research and development member sub-network of green technology innovation team of renewable energy enterprises and the policy sub-network of green technology innovation of renewable energy enterprises. It explores the mechanism of its influence on innovation in the preparation stage. Simulation analysis by Netlogo software concludes that innovation knowledge sharing, R&D membership, and innovation policy all have a significant positive impact on green technology innovation in renewable energy companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relationship between green finance and corporate debt financing in China. The study finds that green finance effectively reduces corporate debt financing levels and alleviates financing constraints. The impact of green finance is particularly pronounced in state-owned enterprises, regions with lower marketization levels, superior industrial structures, and lower carbon emissions. The research provides valuable insights for policymakers and enterprises looking to reduce corporate debt financing levels and offers a new perspective on the economic consequences of green finance. [Extracted from the article]

Urban waste management in Indonesia, particularly in Depok City, faces significant challenges due to rapid population growth and economic development. Ineffective waste management systems result in various environmental, health, and social issues. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of waste management governance in Depok City and develop policy recommendations to support sustainable waste management. The analysis is using the Waste Management Performance Index (IKPS) developed by the Directorate General of Waste Management, Hazardous Waste, and B3 of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK). The research methodology includes data collection from various sources, such as literature reviews, field data from interviews and surveys, and references from books and journals. Data collected from September to December 2023, involving relevant agencies such as Bappeda Depok City, DLHK Depok City, and waste management infrastructure operators. The research findings indicate that Depok City still requires improvements in terms of policy, human resources, infrastructure, budget, and community participation. Several policy recommendations are proposed to address these challenges, including the evaluation and revision of local regulations to strengthen the implementation of the 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) concept, enhancing human resource capacity, routine maintenance of infrastructure, establishing more waste banks and TPS 3R, increasing the waste management budget allocation in the APBD, and intensifying waste management campaigns with active community participation. These findings are expected to assist the Depok City Government in optimizing waste management to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A world faced with global climate change needs actionable ways to curb its effects. We suggest that Ubuntu philosophy is a way to achieve peaceful coexistence between humans and the ecosystem. From an African perspective, we use Ubuntu philosophy's concepts to understand how humans can create environmental policies and environmental education pedagogy. We use historical ecology and document review to explore the connections between humans, ecology, and Ubuntu philosophy. An understanding of how philosophy and ecology relate is proposed to fill the gap in the cosmological premise between the African person and ecology. The study first sets out a relational model of humans and the ecosystem, then applies the ecology of education to environmental policy formulation. The research demonstrates that humanness with humaneness and collectivism, afro-eco-communitarianism, Ubuntu consensus politics, and Ubuntugogy are concepts underlying how the essence of Ubuntu philosophy can inform an ecofriendly society. The ethno-philo-cological underpinnings help conceptualize these concepts of community. Finally, the study's conclusion shows how the concepts of Ubuntu philosophy suggest ways to improve environmental education and policy formulation. Climate concerns can be resolved by handing responsibility to the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Agreement is an important milestone in international climate policy and the associated negotiations of the United Nations Climate Summit under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Article 6 of the Paris Agreement is a supplementary mechanism—regarding carbon markets—to reduce greenhouse gases and achieve the UNFCCC's main objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations. The 2021 United Nations Climate Summit in Glasgow (COP26) played a key role in the pursuit of this goal. Via an overview of Article 6 negotiations in past COP summits and a systematic review and qualitative meta‐synthesis of the literature leading up to COP26, I identify three arguments involving Articles 6.2, 6.4, and 6.8 behind the selected literature. I substantiate these arguments based on the meta‐evaluation of the existing literature and propose a three‐stage meta‐evaluation of the arguments on Article 6 (carbon markets) of the Paris Agreement in the context of COP26 to ascertain if the negotiations were successful in leading to requisite agreements on Article 6. I conclude that future qualitative research should focus on Articles 6.4 and 6.8 of the Paris Agreement and examine the outcomes of future climate debates to see how ideas will flow through the negotiations regarding these two articles to pursue the goal of the UNFCCC under the Paris Agreement. Related Articles: Jihyung Joo, Jihyung, Jouni Paavola, and James Van Alstine. 2023. "The Divergence of South Korea's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from the EU ETS: An Institutional Complementarity View." Politics & Policy 51(6): 1155–73. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12566. Nunes Silva, Carlos. 2012. "Policy and Evidence in a Partisan Age: The Great Disconnect—By Paul Gary Wyckoff." Politics & Policy 40(3): 541–43. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2012.00363.x. Robles, Pedro, and Daniel J. Mallinson. 2023. "Catching up with AI: Pushing toward a Cohesive Governance Framework." Politics & Policy 51(3): 355–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12529. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a key project of China's western development, the West-East Natural Gas Transmission Project (WENGT) has effectively alleviated China's uneven energy distribution and supply-demand issues. It has promoted the optimization of China's energy structure and sustainable development in the new era, helping to achieve the goal of "double carbon". Based on pollution data from Chinese industrial enterprises from 2000 to 2012, this paper analyzes the impact of the West-East Natural Gas Pipeline Project on the air pollution emissions of industrial enterprises using a difference-in-difference model and explores the moderating role of local government environmental regulations. The findings indicate that the project significantly reduced air pollutant emissions from industrial enterprises in cities along the route, with a more pronounced reduction effect in areas with higher environmental regulation intensity. Additionally, the emission reduction effect varied among different types of enterprises and regions, with private enterprises showing the smallest reduction impact and the eastern coastal region exhibiting the most significant effect. This paper delves into the relationship between sustainable cross-regional energy development and air pollution emissions from industrial enterprises, providing a theoretical basis for energy conservation and emission reduction policies in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open green innovation is essential to accelerate decarbonization in Africa. The dearth of empirical evidence on the current trajectory of green innovation in Africa often hinders appropriate green innovation policy design. This study investigates the incidence of collaboration in inventive activities within Africa using the 'designation of the inventor' in the online European Patent database. We identify and assess open and closed climate adaptation and mitigation inventions using explorative and network analysis techniques. Our research shows that even though climate change adaptation technologies are more valuable, climate change mitigation technologies are more responsive to open innovation. We also discovered that the number of green inventions is slightly increasing, but there are very few collaborative open green inventions in Africa as many of the inventions are closed. These results accentuate the fragmented national innovation systems in many African countries. The lack of collaboration and the disconnect between universities and firms shows that most African knowledge institutions have not evolved into vibrant sources of firm learning for national economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beliefs and attitudes regarding climate change significantly influence public support for environmental policy regulations and willingness to engage in voluntary actions. This paper endeavours to forecast public perceptions concerning global warming, anthropogenic climate change, support for environmental tax policies, and the inclination to purchase energy-efficient home appliances. Leveraging data from the European Social Survey, we employ four machine learning techniques to anticipate individuals' environmental beliefs and attitudes. Across various settings, our analysis achieves an accuracy of over 70% in identifying environmentally conscious respondents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the role of the journal Climate Policy in addressing the challenges of climate change. The new editors-in-chief and editor emphasize three areas of attention: blurring the boundaries between climate policy and other decision-making spheres, engaging with diverse perspectives from the Global South, and thinking beyond incrementalism. The article acknowledges both progress and limitations in addressing climate change, highlighting the need for deeper engagement and critical thinking on emergent issues. The editors also express their commitment to expanding the scope of the journal, including perspectives from and on the Global South, and exploring disruptive approaches to climate policy. [Extracted from the article]

This paper examines the effects of the collateral-based monetary policy, implemented by the People's Bank of China, on green financing costs. Employing a Difference-in-Differences (DID) method to examine credit spreads of financial bond in primary and secondary markets from 2017 to 2019, our findings highlight a significant decrease of 26 basis points (bps) in the financing costs of green financial bonds in the primary market, with a 12-bps decline in the secondary market post-policy. Our study underscores the crucial role of implicit credit enhancement provided by the People's Bank of China's collateral endorsement. Interestingly, the liquidity provision mechanism, where investors pay premiums to secure liquidity support, does not find empirical backing in the specific context of China's bond market. These findings illuminate the effectiveness of collateral-based monetary policies in reducing green financing costs, offering valuable insights for using collateral strategies to green monetary policies. Collateral-based policies' success in reducing green financing costs suggests a strategic avenue for supporting green monetary policy goals. Implicit credit enhancement serves as a crucial mechanism driving this cost reduction. The People's Bank of China's experience exemplifies the robustness of such policies without requiring strict collateral scarcity, highlighting broad policy applicability. Collateral-based monetary policy could drive the 'green premium', broadening green bond appeal beyond just environmentally-focused investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how monetary policy can be calibrated to promote a greening of finance. The paper reviews existing literature and notes a tendency to either focus narrowly on one policy instrument or provide a menu of options, without much depth or discrimination. This Perspective paper undertakes a theory-based analysis of green monetary policy options using an institutional approach to monetary economics. In so doing, it identifies a policy mix that would reorient finance by structurally modifying the relative incentives of financing green vs dirty assets. More specifically, the proposed green central banking strategy consists in the combined adoption of several, recalibrated monetary policy instruments. The two main ones are core elements of central banks' collateral policies: making (more) green assets eligible in credit operations with central banks and using so-called 'haircuts' to give green assets preferential treatment over dirty assets in those credit operations. Combined, the adoption of the proposed, recalibrated instruments promises to reorder the collateral asset hierarchies that are the backbone of modern financial systems, providing strong financial incentives for enhanced financing of investment in green assets and divestment from dirty assets. Monetary policy can help speed up a greening of the financial sector. Enhanced financing of green assets, as well as divestment from dirty assets, can be incentivized through a range of monetary policy tools. Among the most potent green monetary policy tools is differentiated treatment of green and dirty assets in credit operations, known as collateral policy. Several green monetary policy options can be pursued without compromising other monetary policy objectives (such as price stability). While most central banks currently remain reluctant to engage proactively with such policy tools, the increasing manifestation of climate change is likely to erode such resistance in coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The US Clean Water Act of 1972 required cities to build secondary wastewater treatment plant capacity to improve the environment and protect public health. The expansion of the Southeast Pollution Control Plant in San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point, a historically Black neighborhood, illustrates how planners employed rational-comprehensive approaches as the bases for their decision-making, worsening the community's environmental burdens. This occurred even as the community used recently adopted environmental policy frameworks to mitigate the plant's consequences. The Clean Water Act should be evaluated on clean water objectives and in terms of how communities were harmed to achieve these environmental goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amid a global infrastructure boom, there is increasing recognition of the ecological impacts of the extraction and consumption of construction minerals, mainly processed as concrete, including significant and expanding threats to global biodiversity. We investigated how high‐level national and international biodiversity conservation policies address mining threats, with a special focus on construction minerals. We conducted a review and quantified the degree to which threats from mining these minerals are addressed in biodiversity goals and targets under the 2011–2020 and post‐2020 biodiversity strategies, national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and the assessments of the Intergovernmental Science–Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Mining appeared rarely in national targets but more frequently in national strategies. Yet, in most countries, it was superficially addressed. Coverage of aggregates mining was greater than coverage of limestone mining. We outline 8 key components, tailored for a wide range of actors, to effectively mainstream biodiversity conservation into the extractive, infrastructure, and construction sectors. Actions include improving reporting and monitoring systems, enhancing the evidence base around mining impacts on biodiversity, and modifying the behavior of financial agents and businesses. Implementing these measures could pave the way for a more sustainable approach to construction mineral use and safeguard biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper constructs a unique dataset of clean energy and collects firm-level green innovation data that matches it with provinces and cities. Then, this paper executes quasi-natural experiments on green innovation to examine the effects of China's emission trading policy on green innovation. Further, this paper introduces the interactive terms of the pilot time and pilot area dummy variables into the spatial Durbin model (SDM) and spatial dynamic panel model (SDPM) to construct quasi-natural experiments to examine the spatial effect. The findings confirm a negative association between the 'policy treatment effect' and green innovation. The results also indicate a significant negative association between the emissions trading policy and clean energy. Besides, the empirical results reveal a positive correlation between clean energy and green innovation; clean energy promotes green innovation in the region and the surrounding areas. This paper complements existing research and provides empirical evidence and policy implications for developing clean energy, promoting green innovation, and improving the emission trading policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental protection tax (EPT) reform is a major strategic measure to further implement green development and is the most important environmental economic policy in China. Using data from 3339 companies listed on the A-shares in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2006 to 2021, this paper evaluates the policy impact of the EPT on corporate carbon emissions and its internal mechanism from the perspective of green innovation by the DID method. The results show that EPT reform effectively promotes corporate carbon emission reduction, and the conclusion remains valid after robustness tests such as the DDD and DML method. The EPT reform mainly promotes carbon emission reduction in companies with high executive compensation levels and high environmental information disclosure, and mature companies. Furthermore, the EPT reform promotes enterprises to reduce carbon emissions by forcing them to adopt strategic and endpoint green innovation, and this "forcing" effect is mainly reflected in internal incentives and external pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zones represents a novel endeavor aimed at paving a "bottom-up" pathway for the advancement of green finance and, consequently, holds immense significance in fostering economic growth that is environmentally sustainable. Drawing on data spanning the years 2013–2019 from 278 prefecture-level cities across China, we delve into the influence of the Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot policy on urban Green Total Factor Productivity. We found that: Firstly, the Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot policy has demonstrated a discernible enhancement in Green Total Factor Productivity within the designated pilot regions. Secondly, there is heterogeneity in the promotion effect of this pilot policy on Green Total Factor Productivity. As the geographical advantage and economic development level decrease, this promotional effect gradually diminishes. Thirdly, it is evident that the Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot policy primarily elevates Green Total Factor Productivity in the pilot regions by improving resource allocation efficiency, fostering innovation in green technologies, and facilitating the upgrading of industrial structures. This research not only underscores the efficacy of green finance in the context of economic transition but also provides empirical substantiation for the strategic utilization of pilot zones to propel nationwide initiatives aimed at sustainable green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes are inevitable outcomes of socioeconomic changes and greatly affect ecosystem services. Our study addresses the critical gap in the existing literature by providing the first comprehensive national analysis of LULC changes and their impacts on ecosystem service values (ESVs) in Malawi. We assessed changes in ecosystem service values (ESVs) in response to LULC changes using the benefit transfer method in ArcGIS 10.6 software. Our findings revealed a significant increase in grasslands, croplands, and urban areas and a notable decline in forests, shrubs, wetlands, and water bodies. Grassland, cropland, and built-up areas expanded by 52%, 1%, and 23.2%, respectively. In contrast, permanent wetlands, barren land, and water bodies declined by 27.6%, 34.3%, and 1%, respectively. The ESV declined from US$90.87 billion in 2001 to US$85.60 billion in 2022, marking a 5.8% reduction. Provisioning services increased by 0.5% while regulating, supporting, and cultural ecosystem service functions declined by 12.2%, 3.16%, and 3.22%, respectively. The increase in provisioning services was due to the expansion of cropland. However, the loss of regulating, supporting, and cultural services was mainly due to the loss of natural ecosystems. Thus, environmental policy should prioritise the conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems to enhance the ESV of Malawi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we are interested in how ethnographic research can contribute to the promotion of public deliberation. We do not use ethnography only to study deliberative processes but rather we intend to interpret ethnographic research as a social practice, and we research conditions under which ethnographic research might have deliberative consequences. The paper summarizes the results of the multidisciplinary research project Stories of Drought, which combines natural and social sciences in its approach. The project aims to understand how people in Czech rural areas respond to localized effects of climate change, especially drought. Following a systemic approach to deliberative democracy, we study how ethnography contributes to fulfilling three deliberative functions: (1) the epistemic function; (2) the ethical function and (3) the democratic function. In the context of irrigation disputes in South Moravia, we map the arguments of main actors and critical tensions in local discourses. We conclude that ethnographic research, due to its hybrid position between different sources of knowledge, its institutionally recognized expertise and its ability to establish an ethnographer as a trustworthy actor, can outweigh local critical power imbalances blocking deliberative capacity in local policy systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the spatiotemporal decoupling effects among economic development, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions is paramount to achieving sustainable development. This relationship sheds light on how regions can grow economically while managing their energy resources efficiently and minimizing environmental impacts. This study examines the critical and globally relevant issue of spatiotemporal decoupling that includes economic development, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions in Xinjiang Province from 2006 to 2020. The Tapio Elasticity Analysis Method is utilized to achieve this objective. We found that the early years showed expansive coupling, reflecting a phase where economic growth was closely tied to increases in energy consumption and emissions. However, over time, particularly post-2010, there is a noticeable shift towards weak decoupling and eventually to more substantial forms of decoupling. The primary sector displayed mostly weak and strong decoupling. The secondary sector, however, showed fluctuating decoupling states. In the tertiary sector, a generally weak decoupling was observed. A spatial analysis across Xinjiang's prefectures and cities revealed pronounced regional variations. This investigation validates the effectiveness of regional ecological policies and illustrates the necessity of tailored strategies to foster sustainable development. Our findings provide valuable insights not only for regional policymakers but also for international stakeholders aiming to achieve sustainable development. The results underline the importance of tailored strategies in different regions, contributing to the broader understanding of sustainable development dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the well‐established tradeoff between economic development and environmental protection, research on the economic costs of alleviating pollution, especially from the perspective of global value chain upgradation, is scarce. In 2006, in its Eleventh Five‐Year Plan, the Chinese government implemented strict environmental regulations against air pollution. We examine the causal effect of these environmental regulations – which were stricter for higher pollution emission provinces compared with lower pollution emission provinces – on Chinese firms' span of production stages after the policy shock. A difference‐in‐difference‐in‐differences estimation reveals that, first, environmental regulations have a significantly negative effect on firms' span of production stages that robustness checks corroborate; second, the negative effects of environmental regulations on firms' span of production stages are realised through the simultaneous decline in import upstreamness and increase in export upstreamness. Heterogeneity tests indicate that the effects are more significant for firms in eastern China, and foreign‐owned firms; finally, the negative effects are manifested through the emission‐related input and output, productivity, and innovation mechanisms. Meanwhile, there are significant emission reduction effects. These results have implications on environmental policies in developing countries in terms of reiterating the need to achieve the dual objectives of environmental protection and global value chain upgradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The study aims to understand the variations in the domain‐specific pro‐sustainable‐forest‐management behavior (PSFMBs) and their explanatory factors across ecological, economic, recreational, and Aboriginal domains and between Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal groups. A hybrid model of PSFMB, which integrates environmental psychology and resource economics perspectives, is conceptualized and estimated using multi‐group path analysis and data from three Aboriginal and three non‐Aboriginal communities in Ontario, Canada. Results show that both groups make substantial pro‐SFM contributions, but the contributions and their influencing factors differ across domains and groups. For Aboriginals, environmental worldviews and assigned forest values are the only influencing factors, while for non‐Aboriginals, income and forest environmental conditions play dominant roles. The findings confirm the fundamental differences in the roles of beliefs, values, and situational factors in influencing the PSFMB of Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal groups, highlight the need for theoretical lenses that account for cultural differences, and contribute to the development of inclusive policies that respect the unique values of different social groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy innovations are imperative to tackle the climate change crisis. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of environmental policies in promoting renewable energy innovations. To bridge this gap, we have adopted a systematic literature review process covering the period from 2005 to 2023. We identified and analysed 29 articles in our final sample. Further, we employ two levels of analysis (individual‐policy and policy‐mix levels) for analysing the extant research. Our findings show that fiscal incentives and emissions trading policies such as the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS) consistently promote renewable energy innovations. In contrast, the effectiveness of feed‐in tariffs and quotas in supporting renewable energy innovations varies, reflecting diverse impacts across distinct regions and renewable energy technologies. Our analysis also suggests that combinations of various policy types can enhance innovation more effectively than individual policies. We contribute to the extant literature by developing a classificatory analysis of the effect of environmental policies on renewable energy innovations. Our review also provides research directions for future scholarship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst the rapid urbanisation and increasing calls for sustainable development, this study examines the key drivers and barriers influencing sustainable smart city initiatives in Nigeria. By employing a quantitative approach, the research amalgamates insights from diverse professionals, integrating descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, and Spearman rank correlation analysis to illuminate the intricate landscape of sustainable smart city development within the Nigerian context. The findings underscore the interconnected nature of various factors, underscoring the imperative of an all‐encompassing approach that synergistically incorporates infrastructure integration, environmental sustainability, efficient governance, social inclusivity, and economic innovation. Furthermore, identifying specific barriers, including challenges related to integrated urban transformation, socioeconomic equity, and governance and infrastructure, highlights the critical need for precise interventions to surmount these obstacles. The implications and recommendations derived from this study emphasise the pivotal role of collaborative endeavours among diverse stakeholders, accentuating the significance of inclusive decision‐making processes, sustainable environmental practices, and equitable economic expansion. The insights gleaned from this research serve as an invaluable resource for policymakers and urban planners, providing a robust groundwork for informed policy formulation and strategic planning to guide sustainable smart city development in Nigeria and other developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental sustainability is increasingly being prioritized by governments around the world, particularly in emerging economies. This study examined the role of green finance and green technological innovation in environmental sustainability using the "load capacity factor", also takes into account natural resource depletion and forest cover. This study used annual data from 2000 to 2018 for emerging economies: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Mexico. Methods of analysis included the cross‐section augmented autoregressive distributed lags (CS‐ARDL) model, along with validation by the common correlated mean group (CCEMG) and augmented mean group (AMG). The results show that green finance, green technological innovation and forested areas consistently have a positive impact on environmental sustainability, while resource depletion has a negative impact. The findings of CS‐ARDL are consistent with those of CCEMG and AMG. The study also makes recommendations that emerging economies need to prioritize REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) initiatives and implement resource decoupling policies, in addition to green finance and green technology policies, to achieve environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Energy‐consuming rights trading policy (ECRTP) is an important environmental regulatory policy in China. The study's goal is to determine how trading in energy‐consuming rights and urban innovation status effects also promote ecological civilization and high‐quality development. The purpose of the study examines the relationship between ECRTP and urban innovation quality (UIQ). Using data from 271 Chinese cities between 2011 and 2020, a difference‐in‐difference (DID) model is used to theoretically and empirically analyze the effects of ECRTP on UIQ. The findings of the study are as follows: First, ECRTP showed a significant improvement in UIQ, although a lagged effect. This outcome offers fresh proof that the "Porter hypothesis" holds water in China. Second, mechanism analysis indicated that ECRTP could improve UIQ with industrial structure upgrading (ISU) and capital deepening. Third, analysis of spillover effects indicates that ECRTP has a key spillover impact on UIQ. Analysis of spillover effects indicates a positive influence of ECRTP on UIQ in surrounding cities. Fourth, heteroggeneity analysis further reveals the impact of ECRTP on UIQ is particularly pronounced in resource‐based and large‐scale cities. These findings are significant and also provide a valuable supplement to the existing study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green development evaluation is an important way for understanding the development status of a region. This study focuses on the green development evaluation of China's Yangtze River Economic Belt, which includes 11 provinces across the eastern, central, and western China. The population and gross domestic product of this area both exceed 40% of the national total. We first established a city-level green development evaluation index system, which includes indicators in the ecological, economic and social dimensions, based on complex ecosystem theory. There are two sub-dimensions under each dimension, and there are totally 21 indicators at the bottom layer. Then, we collected relevant data to measure the 21 indicators in three dimensions of the 110 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt area in 2017. Finally, the 110 cities were divided into 6 groups with hierarchical clustering. The green development level and characteristics of each group of cities were compared and analyzed. The results show that the green development levels of cities in China's Yangtze River Economic Belt are quite different and have different characteristics. In particular, some cities are facing dual pressures in the economy and the ecology. This study can support formulating more targeted green development policies and regional collaboration policies for the Yangtze River Economic Belt area. It also has important reference value for the green development evaluation of other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether administrative accountability can successfully reduce policy implementation deviations is crucial for the effective implementation of environmental regulations. This study investigates the effect of administrative accountability pilot policy on corporate environmental violations. Based on panel data of listed firms in highly polluting industries from 2012 to 2017, this paper adopts the difference-in-differences model to examine the effects. The results show that the official accountability policy significantly reduces corporate environmental violations in pilot cities compared to non-pilot cities. The study also shows that improving environmental enforcement is potential channel. Further analysis shows that the policy also helps to correct implementation deviations and improve the environmental transparency of subordinate governments. In addition, this paper finds that the official accountability policy performs better in areas with less pollution dependence and more environmental attention, and firms with a history of violations and state-owned enterprises are also more proactive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution and climatic change impel economies to discover new methods for sustainable economic development. Green growth is considered an effective way of environmental sustainability. From this perspective, this study evaluates the impact of fiscal policy shocks, financial institutions, and markets development on the green growth of high-polluting economies. The study employed a CS-NARDL approach for investigating the short-run and long-run estimates. The results show that positive shocks in government spending tend to significantly increase green growth in the long-run. In contrast, the negative shock is government spending does not report any significant influence on green growth in the long-run. Financial institution's and financial market's efficiency have a positive impact on green growth in the long-run. Thus, the findings of the study suggest that government spending should be increased with a particular focus on financial markets efficiency and financial institution's efficiency to enhance green growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process to respond to climate change impacts of development projects can only be realized with the support of policies, regulations, and actors' engagement. While considering climate change in EIA has become partly mandatory through the EU revised Directive in Europe, African countries are still lagging. This paper assesses Tanzanian policies, laws, regulations, and EIA reports to uncover consideration of climate change impacts, adaptation, and mitigation measures, drawing from the transformational role of EIA. The methodology integrates content analysis, interpretive policy analysis, and discourse analysis. The analyses draw from environmental policy, three regulatory documents and three EIA reports in Tanzania using a multi-cases study design. The aim was to understand how considering Climate Change issues in EIA has played out in practice. Results reveal less consideration of climate change issues in EIA. The policy, laws, and regulations do not guide when and how the EIA process should consider climate change-related impacts mitigation and adaptation. The practice of EIA in the country is utterly procedural in line with regulations provisions. Consequently, environmental impact statements only profile the climatology of the study area without conducting a deeper analysis of the historical and future climate to enhance the resilience of proposed projects. The weakness exposed in the laws and regulations contributes to the challenges of responding to the impacts of climate change through the EIA process. It is possible to address climate change issues throughout the project life cycle, including design, approval, implementation, monitoring, and auditing, provided the policy and regulations guide how and when the EIA process should consider climate change issues. Additionally, increasing stakeholders' awareness and participation can enhance the EIA process's potential to respond to the impacts of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Do banks price the risk of stranded fossil fuel reserves? To address this question, we hand collect global data on corporate fossil fuel reserves from 2002 to 2016, match it with syndicated loans, and subsequently compare the loan rate charged to fossil fuel firms — along their climate policy exposure — to other firms. We find that banks price climate policy exposure, especially after 2015. We also uncover that our main effect further increases for loans with longer maturity, that loan size to fossil fuel firms increases, and that ‛Green' banks also charge higher loan rates to fossil fuel firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]