Environment, Development and Sustainability最新文献

Biodiversity offsets are used worldwide to provide environmental compensation for the impacts of development and to meet the goals of sustainable development. Australia has embraced the use of offsets and its offset methodologies have been used as models by other jurisdictions. However, the maturity of offset requirements in Australia is unknown. To understand this, development referrals submitted under the Australian Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth) between October 2011 and September 2017 were reviewed to determine if offset requirements in Australia were improving in complexity, transparency and/or environmental outcomes (termed maturity) over time. Despite the implementation of dedicated policy in Australia in 2012, our analysis showed that offset requirements were not on a trajectory towards improvement (maturity) over the 6-year period examined. There was no evidence to suggest the type of offsets required and compensation for impacts to specific species and habitats increased in complexity over time. The level of detail included for offset requirements, mandatory commencement dates and requirements for ecological outcomes similarly did not increase over time. Consequently, dedicated legislation for offsets is recommended to remedy these omissions and enable effective functionality for biodiversity offsets through the protection of the environment and conservation of biodiversity, ecosystem function and ecosystem services.

The business ecosystem theory has developed rapidly in recent years and has become a hot topic in the field of business and management. However, the use of this concept is controversial. This study systematically reviewed literature published spanning nearly three decades from 1993 to 2022. In this paper, researchers designed an improved traceability method to retrieve literature based on data sources form Web of Science. VOSviewer and CiteSpace are adopted as two scientific atlas tools for information processing and visualization to evaluate the relationship between sub fields of business ecosystem. The findings show that the four branches of business ecosystem, i.e., innovation, platform, entrepreneurship and service, absorb theoretical ideas to varying degrees. Among them, the theoretical inheritance relationship of innovation branch is most clear, and gradually grows into the backbone of ecosystem research. Major contribution of this study is reflected in three aspects: Firstly, the improved traceability method provides a repeatable quantitative description process on the basis of significantly reducing researchers’ subjective participation. Secondly, from perspective of bibliometrics, the branch direction and key nodes of theory development are identified. Thirdly, the study helps identify the future development directions of business ecosystem, including innovation, digitalization, entrepreneurship, self-organization and the strategic transformation guided by emerging technologies.

Utilizing the implementation of the Carbon Emission Trading Scheme (CETS) as an external change, we employ a difference-in-difference model to examine its impact and mechanisms on corporate green mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Our study uses a sample of A-share listed companies in the industrial sector from 2007 to 2020. Empirical findings indicate that the CETS significantly promotes corporate green M&A. Further analysis suggests that the CETS promotes corporate green M&A by alleviating financing constraints and increasing media attention. This effect is particularly pronounced in regions with lower marketization degrees, within manufacturing industries, and among non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs). Additionally, the CETS primarily promotes corporate mixed green M&As. Notably, the green M&A supported by CETS is larger in scale and leads to improvements in both green innovation performance and overall financial performance post-implementation. This evidence underscores the dual benefits of CETS-induced green M&A, providing both environmental and economic advantages.

The unrelenting surge in global warming in the current era requires the inevitable needs for international cooperation to mitigate the escalating carbon emissions. While theoretical researches have examined potential frameworks as to an international environmental agreement (IEA) to mitigate global warming problem, none considered the impact of asymmetric technology difference on the optimal allowance trading scheme when forming a stable IEA. By using the method of participation game theory and numerical simulations, this paper envisages a set of countries with asymmetric abatement technology in a noncooperative participation game to study the various impacts of the magnitude of technology difference among countries, the scope of the “allowances to emit” trading, the decision orders and the number of total countries on the optimal trading scheme under the stability of IEA. It characterizes three trading scenarios in a participation game and analyzes in detail that the magnitude of technology difference and the coverage of trading system have impacts on the optimal coalition size as well as the feature of coalition member. The quantitative findings show that if the technology gap is sufficiently small/large, the largest/smallest abatement achieves under a worldwide trading system instead of a trading system within the IEA members. From the perspective of social welfare, the upshot of optimal IEA size as well as trading scheme is provided upon the magnitude of technology difference. In sum, a comprehensive global environmental convention with a worldwide “allowances to emit” trading system is overarching and optimal for the global society. These findings drive towards some key policy implications that establish a sound trading scheme allowing fair participation for all countries and encourage innovation activities in abatement technologies and so on.

Enterprise green innovation (EGI) is necessary to develop sustainably. With the continuous advancement of the digital economy, whether digital transformation (DT) can enhance the quantity and quality of green innovation in enterprises is an important issue that urgently needs to be explored. More importantly, the complex moderating roles of formal and informal institutions have not received sufficient attention. Based on the data of 3595 listed companies in China from 2011 to 2021, this study empirically analyzed the impact of DT on EGI. It tested the moderating role of environmental regulation (ER) and Confucian culture (Ru). The research found that (i) DT positively impacts EGI quantity and quality and can improve EGI quality better. This fundamental conclusion has passed various endogeneity and robustness tests. (ii) ER positively moderates the relationship between DT and EGI and can better moderate the relationship between DT and EGI quantity. (iii) When the Ru in a region is relatively high, the positive moderation effect of ER on the DT-EGI relationship is enhanced. (iv) The DT-EGI relationship is characterized by significant heterogeneity, like property rights, industry, and regional distribution. Specifically, the DT of state-owned enterprises, manufacturing enterprises, and enterprises in the central and western regions can better promote EGI. Therefore, managers should increase investment in DT to encourage enterprises to promote EGI actively. While strengthening environmental regulations, the government should also pay attention to the guidance of Ru and flexibly adjust relevant policies based on the heterogeneity of different enterprises to achieve the EGI effects of DT.

Environmental decline has been a global concern for all humanity and living species for many years. Despite the ongoing global response to increasing environmental degradation, the world still faces unrelenting environmental decline. Turkey sees sustainable development and green growth as responses to environmental decline while maintaining steady growth. The key issue here is how to manage/reduce environmental decline without jeopardizing rapid growth to meet the needs of the current generation. Therefore, this article analyzes sustainable development in Turkey in terms of policy and practices. For this purpose, it first presents a literature review on environmentalism, sustainable development and green growth, and then scrutinizes sustainable development policy and practices in Turkey. Briefly, although Turkey has embraced the policies of environmental conservation, Turkey’s core environmental discourse favors the steady growth and industrialization while ensuring the environmental conservation. Bear in mind that Turkey is still grappling with rapid growth to sustain a livable life for every citizen. As a result, the state is striving to balance various policies and the interests of many stakeholders to achieve sustainable development.

Climate change remains a significant challenge, which threatens the tourism sector in Zimbabwe. This study employs the destination sustainability theory to examine the perceptions of tourism business managers on the impacts of climate change on tourism activities in selected tourist centres in Zimbabwe. A qualitative research approach was adopted in which in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 managerial employees selected through purposive and snow ball sampling strategies. Participants were drawn from multiple study sites, namely Nyanga and Chimanimani; Hwange, Victoria Falls, and Binga; Kariba, Lake Chivero, Mana pools; and Gonarezhou. Findings showed that the perception of tourism facilities managers towards climate change were varied, with managers mostly concerned about climate change induced risk of flooding, shortened tourists vacation time, delayed opening of facilities, damage to supportive tourism infrastructure, loss of biodiversity and reduced capacity utilisation. Additionally, findings reveal that tourism is highly sensitive and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change in the selected study sites due to mediating variables encompassing over-dependence on tourism resources sensitive to climate change, an undiversified tourism market base, and reliance on outdoor tourist activities, coupled with other site specific variables. Overall, tourist sites lack adaptive capacity to recover from the impacts of climate change, hence the adoption of a wide range of smart climate change proofing strategies, notably sinking of boreholes to alleviate water shortages, translocation of wildlife, clearing blocked roads, rehabilitating damaged bridges, investing in energy saving appliances, and green energy. The findings of the study underscore the need for tourism facilities managers to adopt a climate change centric approach when developing climate change proofing strategies to enhance the sustainability and resilience of the sector.

The flourishing development of digital economy (DE) in China has profoundly affected the operation mode of social industry, commerce, agriculture and other industries, and the influence of DE on rural residents’ income needs further study. Based on the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2017 to 2020, a multiple linear regression model of DE and rural per capita disposable income (PCDI) is constructed, and the model is estimated by the two-stage least squares method. The findings show that DE can improve rural PCDI. From the perspective of the intermediary effect, DE can promote rural PCDI through reducing agricultural product output, because the development of DE broadens the income channels of planting crops and reduces the production and operation costs. From the perspective of the adjustment effect, technological innovation has a significant negative adjustment effect on the influence of DE on PCDI, which shows that although DE makes up for some shortcomings in rural areas through technological innovation, it also accelerates the loss of resources.

This study aims to analyze the cost–benefit of demand–supply scenarios on hydropower generation and supply situation in the Marun catchment (Khuzestan province located in Iran) using the Low Emission Analysis Platform (LEAP). For this purpose, demographic data, macroeconomic indicators, and per capita consumption of various energy carriers in both urban and agricultural sectors in 2015 were extracted and calculated for Marun catchment. Then, key assumptions affecting energy consumption including population growth rate, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, and urbanization percentage for 2015–2040 were estimated and the trend of energy demand changes was modeled. Next, four scenarios including (1) Business-As-Usual (BAU), (2) Demand-Side Management (DSM), (3) energy mix and (4) integration scenarios were simulated with LEAP model and net present value (NPV) index calculated for each of them. The results show that final electricity demand in 2040 will be equal to 5094 MWh, while electricity generation capacity is equal to 3.1 million MWh. The results of cost–benefit analysis of different scenarios show that NPV Index of using energy-saving lamps is—$ 251 million compared to BAU scenario and is the best economic alternative to supply the electricity demand of the Marun catchment.

The compounding effects of rapid urbanization and climate change are driving cities in the Global South to urgently require localized intervention. This imperative hinges on the existence of robust institutional frameworks and strategies. The researchers observed that Accra’s Climate Action Plan (ACAP) in Ghana incorporates enabling factors that support urban climate governance; nevertheless, there is a lack of clarity regarding the key success implementation indicators that have been integrated to determine sustainable outcomes. The article, therefore, aims to qualitatively evaluate the governance frameworks and strategies put in place to attain a sustainable future in Accra by 2030. The evaluation of strategies focuses on two fundamental domains: stakeholder engagement and policy instruments. The governance framework is examined in terms of budget and funding options; monitoring and evaluation processes, internal coordination and cross-sector collaboration. The study employs interviews, content analysis, and a three-dimensional framework to assess sustainable development synergies. The findings of the study reveal specific policy instruments that are suboptimal at the local scale due to prevailing decentralized frameworks constraining the city’s autonomy. Furthermore, the ACAP has yet to be integrated into the city’s budget, with funding remaining limited. The institutional integration of ACAP is also significantly hindered by bureaucratic inefficiencies, limitations in monitoring and evaluation framework, and weakness in both internal and cross-sectoral collaborations. Another evidence from this study is that ACAP, while conducive for promoting sustainable development, shows limitations in addressing social sustainability. This is attributed to the absence of a comprehensive social risk and gender-responsive analysis of the impacts associated with the implementation of ACAP. The article thus concludes that the pursuit of a sustainable urban future in Accra remains impeded, unless meaningful efforts are directed toward enhancing the governance framework and revising the policy. The study recommends a more systematic analysis of policies to promote stronger social sustainability, inter alia. Policymakers and scholars focusing on local climate policy and sustainable urban development can find utility in the findings.