ABSTRACT
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus broke out in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, and, as the center of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, the economy and production throughout Hubei Province suffered huge temporary impacts. Based on the input–output and industrial pollution emissions data of 33 industrial industries in Hubei from 2010 to 2019, this article uses the non-parametric frontier analysis method to calculate the potential production losses and compliance costs caused by environmental regulations in Hubei's industrial sector by year and industry. Research has found that the environmental technology efficiency of the industrial sector in Hubei is showing a trend of increasing year-on-year, but the overall efficiency level is still not high, and there is great room for improvement. The calculation results with and without environmental regulatory constraints indicate that, generally, production losses and compliance costs may be encountered in the industrial sector in Hubei, and there are significant differences by industry. The potential production losses and compliance costs in pollution-intensive industries are higher than those in clean production industries. On this basis, we propose relevant policy recommendations to improve the technological efficiency of Hubei's industrial environment, in order to promote the high-quality development of Hubei's industry in the post-epidemic era.
ABSTRACT
The emergence of globalisation and the removal of obstacles between markets have heightened rivalry between territorial areas. To have a competitive advantage, the regions have to be unique. As one of the tactics used to boost their reputation on a territorial level, territories are progressively adopting environmental policies for sustainable and shared prosperity. Indeed, effective management of urban growth depends heavily on sustainable development. In this regard, the literature occasionally refers to the "green branding” of cities, a strategy that makes use of environmental aspects to boost the allure of metropolitan environments. There is currently little consensus in the literature on the measuring of environmental performance, and no statistical study has been done to confirm the efficacy of these measures in terms of territorial competitiveness. Therefore, it is important to determine whether there is a relationship between a territory's level of sustainability and competitiveness in Italy. According to the statistical analysis of the Italian provinces, the Northeast, Northwest, Centre, and Islands are the four geographical regions with the highest average scores. This unquestionably indicates a basic comprehension and supports the notion that there is a relationship between the two variables. However, it also serves as a warning about how geographical disparities in Italy represent a major issue affecting the most diverse sectors. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic problem has drastically altered consumer demands and goals, leading consumers to seek out more sustainable travel and cities that are designed with citizens' requirements in mind. It will therefore become more and more important to research how public and private administrators, as well as policy makers, react to these changes.
ABSTRACT
The additional impact of emission-reduction measures in North China (NC) during autumn and winter on the air quality of downwind regions is an interesting but less addressed topic. The mass concentrations of routine air pollutants, the chemical compositions, and sources of fine particles (PM2.5) for January 2018, 2019, and 2020 at a megacity of Central China were identified, and meteorology-isolated by a machine-learning technique. Their variations were classified according to air mass direction. An unexpectedly sharp increase in emission-related PM2.5 by 22.7% (18.0 mug m-3) and 25.7% (19.4 mug m-3) for air masses from local and NC in 2019 was observed compared to those of 2018. Organic materials exhibited the highest increase in PM2.5 compositions by 6.90 mug m-3 and 6.23 mug m-3 for the air masses from local and NC. PM2.5 source contributions related to emission showed an upsurge from 1.39 mug m-3 (biomass burning) to 24.9 mug m-3 (secondary inorganic aerosol) in 2019 except for industrial processes, while all reduced in 2020. From 2018 to 2020, the emission-related contribution of coal combustion to PM2.5 increased from 10.0% to 19.0% for air masses from the local area. To support the priority natural gas quotas in northern China, additional coal in cities of southern China was consumed, raising related emissions from transportation activities and road dust in urban regions, as well as additional biofuel consumption in suburban or rural regions. All these activities could explain the increased primary PM2.5 and related precursor NO2. This study gave substantial evidence of air pollution control measures impacting the downwind regions and promote the necessity of air pollution joint control across the administration.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd
ABSTRACT
The transportation industry is characterized as a capital-intensive industry that plays a crucial role in economic and social development, and the rapid expansion of this industry has led to serious environmental problems, which makes the eco-efficiency analysis of the transportation industry an important issue. Previous research paid little attention to the regulatory scenarios and suffered from the incomparability problem, hence this paper aims to reasonably estimate the eco-efficiency and identify its evolutionary characteristics. We measure the eco-efficiency and the corresponding global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index using a modified model of the data envelopment analysis framework, in which different regulatory constraints are incorporated. Based on the empirical study on the transportation industry of thirty provinces in China, we find that the eco-efficiency of Chinese transportation industry experienced a slight increase during 2015–2016, a sharp decline during 2016–2017, and a continuous rise since year 2017. The Middle Yangtze River area was the best performer among the eight regions in terms of eco-efficiency, while the Southwest area was placed last. The global Malmquist–Luenberger productivity index showed an earlier increase and later decrease trend, which was quite consistent with the reality of the variation of inputs and outputs and the emergence of COVID-19. Moreover, the best practice gap change was found to be the main driven force of productivity. The empirical results verify the practicability of our measurement models and the conclusions can be adopted in guiding the formulation of corresponding policies and regulations.
ABSTRACT
We examine the net benefits of social distancing to slow the spread of COVID-19 in USA. Social distancing saves lives but imposes large costs on society due to reduced economic activity. We use epidemiological and economic forecasting to perform a rapid benefit–cost analysis of controlling the COVID-19 outbreak. Assuming that social distancing measures can substantially reduce contacts among individuals, we find net benefits of about $5.2 trillion in our benchmark case. We examine the magnitude of the critical parameters that might imply negative net benefits, including the value of statistical life and the discount rate. A key unknown factor is the speed of economic recovery with and without social distancing measures in place. A series of robustness checks also highlight the key role of the value of mortality risk reductions and discounting in the analysis and point to a need for effective economic stimulus when the outbreak has passed.
ABSTRACT
According to Riikka Paloniemi and Annukka Vainio (2011), as early as 1992, the United Nations in its international programme dubbed Agenda 21 asserted that young people, who constitute about 30 percent of the world's population, are important stakeholders in achieving sustainable development (398-399). Much momentum has accumulated in the direction of youth activism for the climate and environment. Besides garnering much recognition from the international community as important actors in climate change policy and action, youth-led climate commitment has continued to grow in leaps and bounds. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, this movement mobilized millions of school-going children/youths across many cities throughout the world to skip classes on Fridays and protest, asking their governments and corporate bodies to concretely address the global climate and environmental crises and save their future.2 Greta Thunberg has spoken to world leaders on the need to curb carbon emissions and has addressed the issue of climate change at many high-level gatherings, including COP24, which was held from in December 2018 in Katowice, Poland;the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January 2019 and 2020;the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Commission in February 2019;an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican in April 2019;and the UK Parliament in Westminster, also in April 2019. [...]the School Strikes for Climate movement has not only caused the resignation of Belgian Environment Minister Joke Schauvliege (who had falsely claimed that children's climate protests were 'set-up') but has also been positively received by key global figures such as UN Secretary General António Guterres, who, following an unprecedented turnout of approximately 1.4 million young protesters in over 120 countries on 15th March 2019, remarked that "the climate strikers should inspire us all to act at the next UN summit".3 Moreover, on 12th April 2019, having witnessed the massive turnout of young protesters the month before, twenty-two renowned scientists across the globe published a letter in the journal Science acknowledging that "the concerns of young protesters are justified" and pledging their support for the youth strikes for climate (Hagedorn et al. 2019, 139-140).
ABSTRACT
How to accelerate the clean use of fossil energy and promote the transformation and upgrading of energy structure is an important challenge commonly faced by countries around the world. In the post-Covid-19 era, the uncertainties faced by countries around the world are increasing and the frequency of policy adjustments in various countries is accelerating. The discharge of pollution by enterprises is significantly impacted by environmental regulatory policies. Under the carbon neutrality goal, the uncertainty of environmental policy caused by multiple political factors can directly influence the decisions made by businesses and residents, in turn, affect their confidence and expectations. However, researchers have given limited attention to measuring the environmental policy uncertainty index (EPUI). In this paper, we select 460 newspapers from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) newspaper database from 2001 to 2016 and use the text analysis method to directly construct China's national, provincial, and prefecture-level EPUI. The results show that China's EPUI has obvious stage characteristics and regional characteristics. By applying the Chinese city-level EPUI to the field of urban pollution reduction, we have obtained an important finding that when urban environmental policy uncertainty increases by 1%, urban industrial sulfur dioxide emission decreases by about 0.145%, and carbon dioxide emission decreases by about 0.053%. We believe that this is due to an increase in environmental policy uncertainty inhibiting the development and scaling of secondary industries.
ABSTRACT
PurposeSustainable supply chain management (SSCM) ensures integration of socially, environmentally and economically feasible practices in entire supply chain. SSCM principles can be implemented to improve efficiency and productivity of a system by different attributes of the system. The purpose of this article is to identify the most appropriate existing (SSCM) framework that can be implemented suitably in Indian smart manufacturing industries.Design/methodology/approachValidity and reliability analysis on the existing SSCM frameworks was carried out with the help of empirical data collected using questionnaire survey methodology from various Indian smart manufacturing organizations. The empirical data were gathered from various experts from top- and middle-level management in different smart manufacturing organizations across the country. Further, factor analysis was carried on the collected data to estimate the unidimensionality of each SSCM frameworks. Cronbach's alpha value was used to assess reliability of each framework. Subsequently, the frequency distribution analysis was done to obtain familiar elements in the segregated frameworks based on validity and reliability analysis.FindingsThe work observed that only five SSCM frameworks have shown unidimensionality in terms of the elements or constructs. The work further found that these segregated frameworks have not shown sufficiently high level of reliability. Additionally, this work attempted frequency distribution analysis and observed that there were very few elements which were being repeatedly used in numerous frameworks proposed by researchers. Based on the findings of this work, the work concluded that there is acute need of a new SSCM framework for Indian smart manufacturing industries.Research limitations/implicationsThis study gathered empirical data from 388 Indian smart manufacturing organizations. Thus, before generalizing the findings of the study across the sectors, there is a possibility of some more explication.Originality/valueThe main purpose of this article is to explore the feasibility of the existing SSCM frameworks in Indian smart manufacturing sector. The study also assumes that the manufacturing managers and executives may have the complete understanding on the existing sustainable manufacturing frameworks and a chance to executing proper suitable framework in the respective manufacturing organization.
ABSTRACT
Few contemporary crises have reshaped public policy as dramatically as the COVID-19 pandemic. In its shadow, policymakers have debated whether other pressing crises—including climate change—should be integrated into COVID-19 policy responses. Public support for such an approach is unclear: the COVID-19 crisis might eclipse public concern for other policy problems, or complementarities between COVID-19 and other issues could boost support for broad government interventions. In this research note, we use a conjoint experiment, panel study, and framing experiment to assess the substitutability or complementarity of COVID-19 and climate change among US and Canadian publics. We find no evidence that the COVID-19 crisis crowds out public concern about the climate crisis. Instead, we find that the publics in both countries prefer that their governments integrate climate action into COVID-19 responses. We also find evidence that analogizing climate change with COVID-19 may increase concern about climate change.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, environmental degradation and the COVID-19 pandemic have seriously affected economic development and social stability. Addressing the impact of major public health events on residents' willingness to pay for environmental protection (WTPEP) and analyzing the drivers are necessary for improving human well-being and environmental sustainability. We designed a questionnaire to analyze the change in residents' WTPEP before and during COVID-19 and an established ordinary least squares (OLS), spatial lag model (SLM), spatial error model (SEM), geographically weighted regression (GWR), and multiscale GWR to explore driver factors and scale effects of WTPEP based on the theory of environment Kuznets curve (EKC). The results show that (1) WTPEP is 0–20,000 yuan before COVID-19 and 0–50,000 yuan during COVID-19. Residents' WTPEP improved during COVID-19, which indicates that residents' demand for an ecological environment is increasing;(2) The shapes and inflection points of the relationships between income and WTPEP are spatially heterogeneous before and during COVID-19, but the northern WTPEP is larger than southern, which indicates that there is a spatial imbalance in WTPEP;(3) Environmental degradation, health, environmental quality, and education are WTPEP's significant macro-drivers, whereas income, age, and gender are significant micro-drivers. Those factors can help policymakers better understand which factors are more suitable for macro or micro environmental policy-making and what targeted measures could be taken to solve the contradiction between the growing ecological environment demand of residents and the spatial imbalance of WTPEP in the future.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic and the climate crisis are polarizing people's opinions worldwide, particularly with regard to restrictive policy measures. We examine the effects of social media use and personal concerns on opinions toward selected COVID-19 and environmental measures, and whether public opinion toward the two crises shows similar polarization patterns. The data is derived from an online survey conducted in German-speaking countries in the summer of 2020. Our analyses show that opinions toward COVID-19 measures are more polarized than toward environmental measures, and that personal concerns play a far greater role than social media use in shaping opinions toward policy measures for both crises. Only few platforms show significant and divergent effects, which we attribute to their different characteristics and potentials for the emergence of filter bubbles and echo chambers. We also observe a generational effect, suggesting that older individuals are more likely to support COVID-19 measures, while younger generations tend to do so for environmental measures. Furthermore, we find an unexpectedly high number of people who are completely opposed to all policy measures for both crises, again mainly due to personal concerns and attitudes. The results are discussed in the context of the time period in which the survey was conducted, as well as in relation to current developments, and from the perspective of the free-rider problem as a possible explanation for the one-sided polarization observed. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Sciences is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
PurposeCarbon trading mechanism has been adopted to foster the green transformation of the economy on a global scale, but its effectiveness for the power industry remains controversial. Given that energy-related greenhouse gas emissions account for most of all anthropogenic emissions, this paper aims to evaluate the effectiveness of this trading mechanism at the plant level to support relevant decision-making and mechanism design.Design/methodology/approachThis paper constructs a novel spatiotemporal data set by matching satellite-based high-resolution (1 × 1 km) CO2 and PM2.5 emission data with accurate geolocation of power plants. It then applies a difference-in-differences model to analyse the impact of carbon trading mechanism on emission reduction for the power industry in China from 2007 to 2016.FindingsResults suggest that the carbon trading mechanism induces 2.7% of CO2 emission reduction and 6.7% of PM2.5 emission reduction in power plants in pilot areas on average. However, the reduction effect is significant only in coal-fired power plants but not in gas-fired power plants. Besides, the reduction effect is significant for power plants operated with different technologies and is more pronounced for those with outdated production technology, indicating the strong potential for green development of backward power plants. The reduction effect is also more intense for power plants without affiliation relationships than those affiliated with particular manufacturers.Originality/valueThis paper identifies the causal relationship between the carbon trading mechanism and emission reduction in the power industry by providing an innovative methodology for identifying plant-level emissions based on high-resolution satellite data, which has been practically absent in previous studies. It serves as a reference for stakeholders involved in detailed policy formulation and execution, including policymakers, power plant managers and green investors.
ABSTRACT
Maintaining our standard of living and keeping the economy running smoothly is heavily reliant on a consistent supply of energy. Renewable energy systems create abundant energy by utilizing resources such as the sun, wind, earth, and plants. The demand for renewable energy is increasing, despite power scarcity, pollution, and climate change posing challenges to long-term development in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has seen significant social and economic growth in recent years. To achieve its 23% renewable energy (RE) target, ASEAN can develop solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity. Members of the ASEAN have established regulations and incentives to encourage individuals and businesses to use renewable energy in the future. This paper explores Southeast Asian countries' comprehensive fossil-free energy options, the region's renewable energy potential, current capacity, goals, and energy needs. Through the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016–2025 and the ASEAN Declaration on Renewable Energy, ASEAN is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and promoting sustainable development aligning with the Paris Agreement's aim to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Results show that decarbonizing the region's energy system is possible, but current policies and actions must be altered to reach that target level. Further research is necessary to optimize the ASEAN region's renewable resource technical potential and commercial viability with available technology.
ABSTRACT
Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the contentious U.S. 2020 presidential election featured candidates with quite different stances on regulating the oil and gas industry, leaving many to question the longevity of fossil fuel use. However, little research explores the relationship between presidential policies and the oil market. In this paper, extensive research into presidential energy policies and their effects on domestic oil prices and production dating back to 1977 helps us identify whether we can predict the industry's future under Joe Biden's administration. The paper's results suggest the domestic oil industry is more dependent on external foreign events - with presidential policies offering almost negligible effects on prices and production.
ABSTRACT
The world is facing several challenges, and the problem of sustainable development is one of the most important. It is worth considering that European countries are playing a significant role as pioneers in building a sustainable world, such as those promises made by signing the Paris Agreement and European Taxonomy. To achieve ambitious targets within sustainable development, a huge amount of capital is necessary, while financial and capital market participants are expected to demonstrate a high level of engagement in the domain of sustainability. Facing growing interest and demand, a relatively new product—the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investment fund—was introduced. Scientific literature is providing some controversial views regarding the overall evaluation of this product. Therefore, additional research providing different angles would contribute to a better understanding. This study examines European ESG funds in the energy sector, from the perspective of news flows and investors. It is worth noting that the authors use the word "European” to refer to members of the European Union (EU). The paper consists of the following parts. In the introduction, the current state of this issue is discussed. The following section offers a literature review and a news flow analysis that contributes to a deeper understanding of these issues. A description of the methodology applied for the data analysis follows this, and the final section presents the research results and conclusions. The authors apply statistical analysis and the Carhart model to determine the differences in the performance of the ESG and conventional funds and use their own tool for text analysis to examine the relevance of the topic of ESG to attract client interest. The authors claim that the performance of the European ESG equity funds do not show a statistically significant difference from the non-ESG equity funds in the majority of the periods examined. The application of the adjusted Carhart model demonstrates that the factor of sustainability has a non-significant and negative effect on the fund performance. Finally, the authors highlight the urgent necessity for the unified usage of keywords and terminology, such as "ESG”, "sustainability”, etc., to ensure comparison and attribution possibilities.
ABSTRACT
In recent years, changes in the climate environment have caused a considerable impact on the economy and finance, especially after the signing of the Paris Agreement decided to prevent the further increase in the earth's temperature and smoothly transformed into a low-carbon society, various markets have been affected to varying degrees, and at the same time, green bonds as an emerging environmental protection tool have sprung up and become the focus of many investors and researchers. The emergence and rise of eco-friendly investment opportunities such as green bonds is bound to have an impact on other markets, but little research has been done on their dynamic correlation with the U.S. stock market, crude oil and gold markets, especially in our current period of COVID-19 tensions, it is necessary to explore the dynamics between markets and the risk aversion of green bonds to climate change. In this paper, we study the dynamic correlation between three green investment vehicles (S&P Green Bond, China Green Bond, and Climate Bond) and three major markets, and explore whether the linkage between each market will be affected by economic risks and climate change risks by adding climate risk proxy indicators and economic policy uncertainties. This is not only of guiding significance for investors who are eco-friendly to judge the effectiveness of asset allocation and hedging in investment decisions, but also has certain reference for policymakers and market participants who want to achieve green investment, which will help the market to maintain a stable and smooth transition to a low-carbon economy in the event of pressure.
ABSTRACT
Modelled low-carbon pathways rarely incorporate processes reflecting social and political realities. Now two studies rise to this challenge by exploring the implications of a landmark initiative to phase out coal, showing that we need greater political ambition for faster transitions to keep a 1.5 °C outcome in sight.