Renewable energy creditors versus renewable energy debtors: Seeking a pattern in a sustainable energy transition during the climate crisis

Considering unpredictable and hastily evolving tipping points (like the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing climate crisis and the war in Ukraine), it is clear that sustainable energy transition and utilization of locally sourced renewable energies must be in the heart of both national, regional, and local energy systems. However, if we take a closer look at the actions undertaken at the local (communal) level, we see enormous diversity of patterns, prerequisites, and implications that drive and affect spatial deployment of renewable energies. Therefore, our research targets to better comprehend the question if individual communities are comparatively involved in the energy transition. We also ask whether the demand and supply of renewable energy is territorially balanced and how these differences (if any) can be justified. We are framing our research by the concepts of energy justice and ecological debt. We thoroughly explore and asses the renewable energy balance on the level of individual communities which is based on data on the installed power capacity potentials and energy consumption in local administration units in Poland (380). Spatial distribution and discrepancies in the deployment of the renewable energy creditors and the renewable energy debtors are detected. Noticeable disproportions were identified among communities where improved utilization of local potential of renewable energy could exceed energy demand (29% of communities). This result is contrasting with communities (71% of communities) that can be, on the other hand, classified as renewable energy debtors. We claim that insufficient support (institution, regulatory, and financial) for expanding local renewable energy systems is a clear barrier when adapting to the climate crisis by balancing the energy demand and supply at the local level.

The Transformation of the Spatial Structure of an Economy in the Crisis and Post-Crisis Periods

—This article is a review of global and Russian research on features and patterns of the development of regions of a country in crisis and post-crisis periods. It is shown that the theoretical foundation of studies on this issue is the concept of regional resilience, as developed in global research since the 2010s. The features of the resilience concept are analyzed and compared with regional growth theories and economic security studies. Factors that influence the resilience of regions of a country to economic crises are summarized: they include features of a region's settlement system (the ratio of the urban to rural populations) and its position in the national settlement system (location in relation to large urban agglomerations), the structure of the region's economy (level of diversification, specific features of specialization and employment structure), innovation potential and quality of human capital, cohesion of the local community, and quality of public administration. It is noted that differences in regional resilience levels are consistent;in particular, the features of regional spatial development observed during the current crisis (associated with the COVID-19 pandemic) follow previously established patterns. Negative consequences of crises, specifically, regional divergence and reduced inclusiveness of economic growth, are also described. Issues of transforming the state spatial development policy during crisis periods, as well as opportunities for managing regional resilience, are discussed.

Evidence to Inform Resilience Policy in the SADC: Current Limitations and Future Research Areas

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and its member countries are potentially vulnerable to external disturbances, including environmental, economic, and social shocks. Regional policy emphasizes interventions to ensure long-term growth and development in the face of potential disturbance. Current emphasis is placed on mitigating the impact of climate change, including the creation of the SADC Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. However, the need for long-term adaptation and associated policy is evident to reduce regional vulnerabilities. Research is an important source of evidence to support policymaking, with specific importance to institutions in developing regions such as the SADC and during times of global change and disruption. SADC development policy related to resilience outcomes ought to be informed by research. This paper investigates the extent to which existing research supports regional resilience policymaking. Objectives include investigating available research on resilience in the SADC, identifying potential limitations, and delineating areas of future research to be considered by researchers that contribute to knowledge and evidence creation. A bibliometric review and selective content review of existing research were utilized. Relevant publications for the aforesaid analysis were delineated using the source concepts “resilience”, “adaptation”, “adaptability”, and “Southern African Development Community” (or “SADC”). Using the SCOPUS database, bibliometric data of 65 publications were imported into the VOSviewer application (v.1.6.17). Keyword occurrences and network and overlay visualizations were applied to identify the research themes underlying current research. The findings, which were supported by the selective content review, indicate that existing research focuses primarily on environmental and social disturbances, while the applicable regional planning scale and development policy are considered to a limited extent. Areas of future research ought to create evidence that is thematically relevant to policy areas and applicable to policy interventions, which necessitates increased research on economic disturbances, a broadening of existing themes to the appropriate regional planning scale, and consideration of explicit regional development objectives and policy. Transdisciplinarity ought to be central to future research on the diverse disturbances facing the region, while researchers ought to leverage knowledge-creation opportunities catalyzed by SDG implementation.

Economic and Legal Impact of 2020 Sulphur Limit Under Annex VI, MARPOL

Effective from 1 January 2020, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has brought down the permissible sulphur emission from vessels to 0.50% m/m from the earlier set 3.5% m/m Sulphur emission limit. The maritime stakeholders stepping away from Heavy Sulphur Fuel Oil (HSFO) and looking towards Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil, Liquefied Natural Gas, Marine Gas Oil, (VLSFO, LNG, MGO), for compliance or use of Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems (EGCS) with HSFO. These modes of compliance however are not completely failsafe as they present economical and regulatory challenges. The article presents a study of IMO and Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) regulations, guidance, and guidelines for the implementation of low Sulphur limit. The nations member to International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MAR-POL) are subject to new Sulphur limit and they have devices their own set of policies for compliance causing a lack of uniformity. MARPOL has left the decision of sanctions on the Member State thus the set standards also vary and there exist certain nations with sanction policies in case of violation. The research has addressed the national policies of major maritime contributing nations having varied geographical proximity. Greece, UK, Panama, USA, Australia, China, India, and Nigeria are considered for the study. The study has shown that open-loop EGCS have been prohibited in various nations due to environmental concerns. Further, many states have not formed sanction policies reflecting the allocation of responsibility in case of non-compliance consequently have established a threat of criminal action against the captain and the crew of the ship. The article concludes that the IMO can issue reservations for national implementation or formulate modal law for national policy-making so that uniformity is achieved. Furthermore, the economic challenges prevalent have occurred due to the high cost of alternative fuel and installation of EGCS which has consequently impacted the opting of compliance mechanism by the shipping industry. The newly built ships preinstalled with EGCS are preferred. The study has suggested that for old vessels EGCS might be the adequate option as the cost of fuel is expected to increase in the post COVID-19 era. © 2022, Kluwer Law International. All rights reserved.

State financial regulation of the competitive environment: assessment for the agricultural sector of Ukraine. (Special Edition: Integration system of education, science and production.)

The article reveals the importance of state financial regulation as one of the most important tools for economic growth and ensuring the competitiveness of industries and the economy of Ukraine. The studies of domestic and foreign scientists on the subject of research are analyzed in detail. The state of enterprises of the agricultural sector of Ukraine for the period 2013- 2020 has been determined. The study was carried out on the factors of providing agricultural producers with financial resources in terms of the size of the forms of management. The share of unprofitable enterprises in the industry for the same period is also analyzed. The achievements of the agricultural sector are described according to the statistical analysis of the state of socio-economic development of the regions in the period 2020-2021. The methodology for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the implementation of the state regional policy in accordance with legislative regulations is described. This made it possible to establish that at the present stage, the financial regulation of the agricultural sector of Ukraine is carried out without proper scientific justification and, as a rule, responds slowly to the requirements of economic practice, especially in the context of deepening the penetration of global processes into the national economy. Approaches to the assessment of the competitive environment of the agrarian sector of Ukraine and the direction of its state regulation are proposed. Theoretical, methodological, and practical aspects of assessing the competitiveness of the sector are disclosed. The necessity and possibility of forming a competitive environment by fiscal policy measures, primarily budgetary regulation, is proved. The problems of forming a competitive environment in the context of the current crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the place of Ukraine in the world competitiveness ranking are identified, and methodological approaches to the development strategy are proposed. It is proved that the competitive strategy is based on the existing resources of the industry (material, financial and intellectual), the level of development of various forms of management, the structure of production, marketing, processing, the formation of value chains and a bilateral state-market regulator. The directions for improving the quality of the competitive environment, arising from the paradigm of innovative development of the agricultural sector, are summarized and provide for the stimulation of small business in niche and organic production and large-scale industrial production in terms of the main indicators of food security, as well as the development of land, financial, credit and resource markets and the formation of equal access to them all agricultural producers.

ANTI-CRISIS POLICY OF THE SOUTHERN RUSSIAN REGIONS IN THE CONDITIONS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 1

Introduction. This study analyzes the anti-crisis policy of the southern Russian regions during the three waves of the pandemic, and also assesses the nature of its change as the corona crisis develops. It was important to identify how the regional anti-crisis policy determines the choice of mechanisms and tools for solving the problems of socio-economic development of regions. Methodology and methods. The analysis was carried out in accordance with the methodology proposed by G. Buckert, in the following areas of anti-crisis management: monitoring, training, decision-making, coordination, communication, leadership and recovery potential. The following methods were used to conduct the study: context analysis – a qualitative analysis of documents adopted by regional authorities;quantitative analysis – analysis of socio-economic indicators that reflect the reactions of the economy to decisions made by regional authorities. Analysis. The study showed that regardless of the strength of the impact of the corona crisis and the extent of the damage caused, the content of the policy of the regional authorities can be characterized as “following the center”, which is largely due to the desire to avoid responsibility for the consequences of decisions made. At the first stages of the development of the corona crisis, the goals of containing the spread of coronavirus and state support for the most affected sectors of the economy from the introduction of restrictive measures were the priority. Starting from the second and subsequent waves of the pandemic, the introduction of various measures related to the mass vaccination of the population has become a key area of regional policy. Results. The key problem of the implementation of regional policy measures is identified – inefficient information work of regional authorities, which led to information asymmetry with the increased influence of the media on the social moods of citizens. It is concluded that in order to increase the efficiency of regional policy implementation measures in order to increase the sustainability of regional development, it is important that the ongoing coordination interactions between the authorities at different levels of government have clear goals for restoring the regional economy and restorative measures should be prioritized with the supply maintenance policy. © 2022 Volgograd State University. All rights reserved.

Concept for research on the socio-economic consequences and challenges of a pandemic

The crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the shortcomings and weaknesses of regional economies. It should therefore be perceived as an impulse for change, aimed at building greater resilience to various external shocks, which will also occur in the future. The aim of the article is to present the original concept of studying the socio-economic consequences of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges arising in the face of the identified development problems. Our research shows that the necessary values to be strengthened in order to create a modern and resilient regional economy include competences, scientific and technological knowledge, financial capital and public and social security. We find that to strengthen the priority values, the specific styles of actions should be adopted, which would enable effective use of endogenous potential resources of the region. These include flexibility, diversification and communication and cooperation. The authors employ the method of scientific analysis and deduction, they refer to their own observations of socioeconomic phenomena and critically analyse literature and strategic documents.

Efficiency Assessment of Measures for Sustainable Development of the Region Under the Uncertainty of Coronavirus Crisis

The article presents efficiency assessment of sustainable development measures in the region in the face of uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic crisis caused by the pandemic is one of the most serious in recent decades. Its global nature is due to the scale of economic and social losses, aggravation of production problems for many industries and enterprises. Like other regions of the Russian Federation, Volgograd region has repeatedly faced crises since the early 2000s, and each of them has become a new challenge for the regional administration system in terms of its ability to develop and take timely measures to overcome negative consequences. In the article, a number of indicators were analyzed for three consequent periods. The first one is 2019 in comparison with 2018. The second period is 2020 in comparison with 2019. The third one is the beginning of 2021 and each of them is characterized by the ratio of various factors that influence the behavior of business entities, population of the region, development and use of managerial decisions aimed at sustainable social and economic development of Volgograd region. The recovery from the pandemic crisis became the most important task for regional authorities, which is reflected in the set of measures aimed at support of the economy and social sphere of the region, incomes of the population and businesses. It became necessary for public authorities to improve new rules of work and decision-making mechanisms in order to respond to the current situation in a timely manner. The authors believe that the main factors of success of the measures implemented by regional authorities were their quality, timeliness and degree of compliance with the set goals. Analysis and generalization of management experience during the corona virus crisis allowed us suggesting long-term measures aimed at the sustainable development of Volgograd region.Alternate : В статье представлена оценка эффективности мер устойчивого развития региона в условиях неопределенности, вызванных пандемией коронавируса COVID-19. Экономический кризис, порожденный пандемией, относится к самым серьезным за последние десятилетия. Его глобальный характер обусловлен масштабами экономических и социальных потерь, усугублением проблем производства для многих отраслей и предприятий. Как и другие регионы Российской Федерации, Волгоградская область с начала 2000-х неоднократно сталкивалась с кризисами, и каждый из них становился новым вызовом системе управления регионом на предмет ее способности к разработке и принятию своевременных мер преодоления негативных последствий. В рамках данной статьи проведен анализ ряда показателей по трем периодам: первый – 2019 г. в сравнении с 2018 г.;второй период – 2020 г.;третий – начало 2021 г., каждый их которых характеризуется соотношением различных факторов, оказывающих влияние на поведение субъектов предпринимательства, населения региона, на процессы разработки и принятия управленческих решений, направленных на обеспечение устойчивого социально-экономического развития Волгоградской области. Выход иРпандемийного кризиса стал важнейшей задачей для региональных органов управления, что нашло свое отражение в совокупности мер, направленных на поддержку экономики и социальной сферы региона, доходов населения, субъектов предпринимательства. Возникла необходимость органам публичной власти осваивать новые правила работы и механизмы принятия решений для своевременного реагирования на сложившуюся ситуацию. Представляется, что основными факторами успешности реализуемых региональной властью мер выступали их качество, своевременность и степень соответствия поставленным целям. Анализ и обобщение опыта управления в период коронавирусного кризиса позволили предложить меры долгосрочного характера, направленные на устойчивое развитие Волгоградской области.

City region thinking, a zombie idea in regional and rural development? Scotland and Finland compared

Both regional and rural development have enduring “received wisdoms” to which wise practitioners and policy makers pay lip-service. In the case of the latter the role of land-based industries as drivers of the rural economy is ignored at peril, whilst regional policy makers must pay their respects to cities and towns as the engines of growth. We suggest that city region thinking is a “zombie idea”, which refuses to die, though unsupported by evidence. In this paper we trace the influence of city region thinking in the context of rural Scotland and Finland and explore the way in which it coexists with rural development policy. These two case studies provide examples of different approaches to reconciling the received wisdom and traditions of regional/urban and rural development policy. City region thinking is influential in both countries, but policy legacies and governance structures lead to different outcomes. We suggest that city region thinking may become increasingly anachronistic in the post-Covid world and needs to be superseded by rural/regional development paradigms fully refreshed by evidence of twenty-first century rural-urban relationships. © 2021 The Authors

Socio-economic consequences of the first and second waves of the pandemic in Russian regions

Relevance. The spread of the coronavirus infection and the ensuing economic restrictions significantly influenced the main parameters of the socio-economic development of Russia and its territories, affecting the growth rate, production structure, territorial differentiation and competitiveness of Russian regions. Purpose of the study. The key goal of the study was to identify the socio-economic changes in the development of the country and its regions during the pandemic. Data and Methods. The analysis relies on open data on the socio-economic development of Russian regions for 2019–2021 (monthly, quarterly and annual peri-ods), posted on the official website of Rosstat. Methodologically, the study is based on the comparative analysis of the data for the federal districts and their regions. Results. The study describes the main trends in the development of industry, trade, paid services, and investment potential and in the dynamics of unemploy-ment and income in federal districts and regions. The first wave hit Russian regions the hardest due to the rigorous restrictions. Although no sharp recession was detected during the second wave, the stagnation in the key sectors persisted. The third wave is expected to have the same impact as the second. Conclusions. After the second wave subsided, there was a revival of economic activity in the spring of 2021. However, this has not turned into a steady trend yet. The coronavirus pandemic affected the competitiveness of regions. The impor-tance of certain factors (including those related to resource potential) decreased during the pandemic, while the role of the competitive position of regions in the distribution of federal budget transfers increased. © 2021, Ural University Press. All rights reserved.

How much does state aid mitigate employment losses? Local policy effects at a time of economic crisis

We evaluate the effectiveness of the most extensive experiment of income redistribution, that is, the European Union regional policy, at a time of economic crisis. By exploiting geographical discontinuities in fund eligibility, we analyse comprehensive data on all publicly funded Italian projects at the municipality level. We find a positive impact of localized support to firms with a sizable increase in employment and the number of plants in intensively treated areas. The result is an important policy lesson concerning the effects of place-based policies at a time of a long-lasting recession, such as that engendered by the Covid-19 crisis.