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Energy and Environmental Economics: Modelling Pathways for Green Transition and Sustainable Development

A Special Issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050) belonging to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 1737

Editors


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Finance, Business Information Systems and Modelling Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, 300223 Timișoara, Romania
Interests: ESG and financial performance; sustainable development; corporate finance; environmental and energy economics

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Guest Editor
Finance, Business Information Systems and Modelling Department, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, West University of Timisoara, 300223 Timișoara, Romania
Interests: public sector governance; energy economics; empirical finance; econometric modelling; environmental and climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
The Department of Agrifood and Environmental Economics, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010961 Bucharest, Romania
Interests: market research; marketing competitiveness; wine chain; agrifood chains; marketing; competitiveness; performance; marketing research; agrifood management; business planning; entrepreneurship; ecological agrifood market; food economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global economy is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the urgent need to address climate change, environmental degradation, and energy security while sustaining long-term economic growth and social welfare. The transition toward low-carbon and resource-efficient development pathways requires fundamental changes in energy systems, production and consumption structures, and policy frameworks. In this context, energy and environmental economics provide critical theoretical and empirical foundations for understanding the economic drivers, constraints, and consequences of the green transition. Increasingly, the role of corporate governance structures, firm-level decision-making, and ESG-oriented governance practices has become central in shaping investment behaviour, technological adoption, and environmental performance across industries.

The overarching objective of this Special Issue is to generate robust analytical evidence that informs energy and environmental policy design, strengthens sustainable corporate governance practices, supports green investment decisions, and contributes to the development of resilient and low-carbon economies.

Complementing this perspective, the scope of the Special Issue encompasses rigorous theoretical and empirical research that examines the economic, institutional, and governance mechanisms underpinning the green transition and sustainable development. By examining these interlinkages across countries, industries, sectors, and governance levels, the Special Issue aims to identify the conditions under which energy and environmental policies, green transition strategies—supported by effective governance at both public and corporate levels, institutional frameworks, and technological change contribute to environmental sustainability, emissions reduction, resource efficiency, and climate resilience.

Prof. Dr. Marilen-Gabriel Pirtea
Dr. Alexandra-Mădălina Țăran
Prof. Dr. Georgiana-Raluca Lădaru
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • energy–environment nexus
  • energy transition
  • sustainable development
  • green economic transition
  • ESG integration
  • environmental performance
  • environmental externalities
  • climate–energy regulation
  • sustainable energy systems
  • green growth

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 325 KB  
Article
Heterogeneous Executive Environmental Awareness and Corporate Green Transformation: The Mediating Roles of Substantive and Symbolic Green Innovation
by Luhan Cao and Bing Zhang
Sustainability 2026, 18(13), 6567; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18136567 - 29 Jun 2026
Viewed by 346
Abstract
As resource and environmental constraints continue to tighten, corporate green transformation has become a key micro-level foundation for achieving high-quality development. Using data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2001 to 2024, this study examines the effect of executive environmental awareness on corporate [...] Read more.
As resource and environmental constraints continue to tighten, corporate green transformation has become a key micro-level foundation for achieving high-quality development. Using data on Chinese A-share listed firms from 2001 to 2024, this study examines the effect of executive environmental awareness on corporate green transformation and explores the underlying mechanisms. The results show that executive environmental awareness significantly promotes corporate green transformation, and this finding remains robust across a series of robustness checks. Mechanism tests indicate that green innovation serves as an important channel through which executive environmental awareness affects corporate green transformation. This channel operates primarily through symbolic green innovation, whereas the mediating role of substantive green innovation is not significant. Further analysis shows that pressure-oriented environmental awareness has a stronger positive effect on corporate green transformation than development-oriented environmental awareness, suggesting that corporate green transformation in the current institutional context remains largely responsive to external pressures. Heterogeneity analysis further reveals that the positive effect of executive environmental awareness is more pronounced among non-state-owned firms and firms located in eastern China. This study uncovers the internal cognitive mechanism underlying corporate green transformation from the perspective of executive awareness and provides empirical evidence on how environmental awareness can be translated into green transformation practices. Full article
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32 pages, 3572 KB  
Article
An Empirical Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Environmental Performance of Hybrid Vehicles in the European Union
by Alexandru Dobre and Elena Preda
Sustainability 2026, 18(11), 5341; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18115341 - 26 May 2026
Viewed by 544
Abstract
This study provides an empirical assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental performance of hybrid vehicles in the European Union. The analysis integrates a macro-level examination of nitrous oxide (N2O) emission trends in EU Member States for road and pipeline [...] Read more.
This study provides an empirical assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and the environmental performance of hybrid vehicles in the European Union. The analysis integrates a macro-level examination of nitrous oxide (N2O) emission trends in EU Member States for road and pipeline transport with a micro-level econometric investigation of emissions generated by the internal combustion engines of hybrid vehicles. The empirical analysis is based on a large sample of hybrid vehicles of different brands and variants, including 1350 observations used to examine the relationship between CO2 emissions and fuel consumption per 100 km, and 123 observations to analyze nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. CO2 is assessed as the principal greenhouse gas emitted during vehicle operation, while NOx (NO and NO2) is examined as a major regulated atmospheric pollutant relevant to environmental performance. A bibliometric analysis of NOx-related publications further highlights increasing scientific attention to this pollutant, supporting the relevance of the current study. Results reveal significant heterogeneity across hybrid vehicle models in terms of fuel consumption and NOx emissions, indicating that environmental performance is strongly influenced by technological design and operational characteristics. Robust multiple regression models (R2 = 0.84 for vehicle with low CO2 emissions, 0.82 for high CO2 emissions and R2 = 0.72 for NOx emissions) revealed significant correlations between pollutant emissions and fuel consumption, providing valuable tools for predicting emissions and informing environmental policies and hybrid vehicle design. Overall, the findings indicate that hybrid vehicles can contribute to improved environmental performance and lower greenhouse gas emissions relative to conventional vehicles, while their effectiveness depends on model specific characteristics and broader sectoral emission dynamics in the EU. These insights provide evidence for policymakers and industry stakeholders to support the transition toward cleaner vehicle technologies and align climate neutrality targets in the European Union. Full article
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