Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability最新文献

Fostering climate-resilient development (CRD) in developing countries can provide opportunities to create efficient, equitable, and inclusive responses to climate change. However, we are concerned that CRD could become a one-size-fits-all approach in developing countries, despite the IPCC’s recognition that this concept can have multiple trajectories. We analyzed contributions in the international literature that provide information on the features needed to transform CRD from an attractive concept to an operational approach in these countries. We focus on shortcomings and barriers in adaptation and mitigation actions and finance to better understand the challenges CRD needs to address, and we stress the importance of political economy to successfully implement CRD.

Sustainability certification narratives are diverse contributing to multiperspective discourses on human–nature value systems. Certification shapes values at the human–nature interface, encompassing instrumental, relational, and intrinsic values. The sustainability certification debate involves four value systems: (1) economic, instrumental value; (2) social, relational value; (3) multiple values of human–nature interactions; and (4) global sustainability values for nature and commons. Despite rich narratives, questions on effectiveness and inclusiveness persist. The effectiveness of certification schemes relies on counterfactuals, and positive impacts occur when embracing inclusivity in supply chains. Accountability at the landscape level aligns with common-but-differentiated responsibility targets. This article reviews multidisciplinary literature on value-for-nature systems, highlighting narrative gaps in sustainability certification’s intended impacts, and providing policy recommendations.

The race for economic development worldwide is being brought at the expense of the rapid depletion of natural resources and adverse environmental changes. This has brought our attention to the global urgency of climate change. To overcome this problem, drastic changes are required in our way of living, including consumption, transportation, and production. This requires green innovation flourished by finance (also known as green finance [GF]). Considering this, we conducted a thematic analysis of the previous strand of literature that presents evidence that finance supports green innovation in different phases of life. Our thematic analysis was threefold: 1) we explored the theoretical lens adopted by recent studies in exploring the causal effect of finance in promoting green innovation, 2) we identified the scope of these studies in terms of environmental outcomes covered by them, we called them research themes in this study, and 3) based on our thematic analysis, we highlighted areas needing greater attention by academicians and practitioners. We found that GF positively impacts the firm's green innovation. The main reason discussed in the literature is that the dedicated resource availability for green innovative projects helps to minimize the constraints on funds for innovative projects. One stream of literature also highlights the rise of greenwashing as managers only use these funds for publicity, however, they are not fully committed to sustainability goals. This review provides valuable suggestions to academicians and practitioners regarding effective financial resource usage to progress toward achieving sustainability goals.

Climate-related risks for the financial sector have been discussed since the then-Governor of the Bank of England mentioned these risks as the tragedy of the horizon. Shortly after, research about stress-testing the impact of climate change on the financial sector was published. They use various methods that address the climate-related Value-at Risk and other financial risks. We conducted a systematic literature analysis in Scopus and analyzed the data using VOSViewer. In addition, we analyzed the most cited papers in detail. Our analyses found that stress testing, as a sustainable finance risk management tool to address financial stability, connects climate change with financial risks. Different stress-testing approaches found significant climate-related financial impacts on equity and loan portfolios. We conclude that research is needed to guarantee reliable, valid, and standardized climate-related stress testing.

Environmental impact bonds (EIBs) are innovative financial models included in the toolbox of impact investing that focus on environmental challenges. Recently, they have received an increasing amount of attention, in line with the expansion of environmental finance research. However, to date, there is no complete knowledge on this topic, either in theory or in practice. This article offers a concise view of the EIB landscape, based on a literature review, through the analysis of the structure and the evolution of the research field, as well as challenges and research opportunities. The results provide a roadmap for future directions, which is useful to help academics focus their studies on underinvestigated areas within this research niche.

This paper reviews the fossil fuel divestment literature. It argues that the origin of climate change is in the ‘carbon shield’, meaning that fossil fuel firms are not held sufficiently responsible for their externalities. By divesting from these firms, investors do not want to be complicit. The literature differentiates three dimensions in the fossil fuel divestment debate: Justification, Impact, and Agent. The first discusses the justification for divesting, whereas the second discusses the impact of divesting on financial performance and/or emissions, and the third relates to how to accomplish divesting and its consequences for individual agents. The review concludes that the number of perspectives used to analyze the divestment debate is rising, that the environmental and financial impact of divestment is very limited, and that a wide variety of agents relate to divesting from fossil fuel.

The paper presents the state of the art of accounting digitalization focused on sustainability issues. The paper reviewed recent literature in this area and identified that the most prevailing assumption is related to the capacity of digitalized sustainability accounting to improve decision-making and support environmental protection. However, there are also concerns about the difficulties of accounting studies related to digitalization in the quest for sustainability to integrate with two related subfields: (i) accounting information systems and, (ii) sustainability accounting. Additionally, it has been claimed that accountants today are reluctant to lead the digital transformation of accounting, and this may cause a reduced legitimacy of accountants due to lack of digital savviness. This paper explores in the literature review the different topics that are currently explored, and the subfield currently leading this research. The results highlight the importance of the aforementioned integration in research and suggest avenues to explore the interplay between accounting, digitalization technologies, information systems, and environmental protection.

The complexities and seemingly uncontrollable nature of problems associated with climate change have intensified, giving rise to severe consequences, including rising sea levels, escalating temperatures, drought, deforestation, and heightened catastrophes such as typhoons. While long-term solutions such as energy transition and green finance are widely acknowledged, their implementation is time-consuming. Recognizing the urgency, there is a critical need to explore short-term, immediate measures to alleviate the adverse effects, particularly for ordinary and vulnerable groups. In this context, insurance emerges as a promising solution. This paper conducts a comprehensive review of the current state of research on climate catastrophe insurance for climate change, utilizing the Scopus database. Furthermore, the paper suggests directions for future research to address the pressing challenges posed by climate change.

Moving from a state of war or violent conflict will require a transformation, but there are no guarantees that transformations automatically lead to peace, sustainability, and justice. This review focuses on the temporary phase when a system is in limbo between the existing, dominant state and a new alternative state. We combine insights from a resilience approach to transformations with peacebuilding and transformative justice studies to focus on three roles that hybrid approaches to transformative and transitional justice may play in this phase, including 1) addressing ‘backlash’ dynamics, 2) strengthening the capacities needed to navigate cross-scale dynamics of conflict, and 3) responding to additional shocks, crises, and disturbances beyond the primary conflicts. Together, these findings advance the theoretical foundations for understanding peacebuilding as a transformative change process.

The global financial landscape is currently undergoing a transformation in policy priorities as a result of climate change and environmental challenges. This paper presents findings from a systematic review of the literature that examines the current state of knowledge regarding climate-related financial risks. Four main research areas are identified that vary in terms of development and interconnectedness. In scoping out knowledge gaps requiring further research, this review explores areas of opportunity and provides suggestions for future endeavors.