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Energy Transition and the Collaborative Governance for Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 8054

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Feng Wang

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Guest Editor

School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
Interests: green and low-carbon economics; energy and environmental finance; econometrics; regional economics

Prof. Dr. Lingyun He

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Guest Editor

School of Economics and Management, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
Interests: green finance; energy and environmental economics and policy

Prof. Dr. Zhangqi Zhong

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Guest Editor

School of Economics and Trade, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou 510006, China
Interests: environmental regulation; technological innovation; environmental governance; environmental pollution; greenhouse gas emissions accounting; carbon leakage
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

(1) Energy is essential to human survival and development. Since the First Industrial Revolution, the extensive usage of fossil fuels has promoted social progress, but it has also caused a series of problems, such as resource depletion, environmental pollution and geopolitical tension. Green and low-carbon transformation and development of energy will consequently be crucial for the future of humanity. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions and pollutant emissions share the same root and interact with each other, and energy transition is the key to improving pollution and carbon reduction. Therefore, comprehensively clarifying the issues of energy transition and the collaborative governance for the reduction in pollution and carbon emissions is of great significance for strengthening energy security, improving ecological quality, reducing climate damage risks, and increasing economic benefits. We are pleased to invite you to provide issue-oriented and cutting-edge research, both theoretical and empirical, that focuses on the intersection of energy transition and pollution and carbon reduction, with a particular emphasis on topics related to system modeling, factor analysis, path optimization, and policy evaluation.

(2) This Special Issue aims to explore the innovative theory and practice that refers to energy transition, environmental impact assessment, pollution and carbon reduction, synergistic scenario modeling and quantification for sustainability.

(3) In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Energy transition and energy security;
Collaborative governance for carbon abatement and pollution reduction;
Drivers of energy transition and paths in energy supply, consumption, technology, and governance;
Energy conservation and emission reduction in carbon-intensive industries;
Blockchain and green development;
Energy transition and pollution and carbon reduction and their synergies at temporal and spatial scales;
Energy transition and carbon neutrality;
Climate change, carbon emissions, and energy transition;
Construction of the new energy system.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Feng Wang
Prof. Dr. Lingyun He
Prof. Dr. Zhangqi Zhong
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-blind 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

carbon abatement and pollution reduction
energy transition
collaborative governance
energy security
energy system
green and low-carbon development
climate change
environmental governance

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 553 KB

Open AccessArticle

Collaborative Governance for Urban Decarbonisation in Italy: Insights on Networked Capacity Building

by Saveria O. M. Boulanger, Martina Massari, Danila Longo and Beatrice Turillazzi

Sustainability 2026, 18(9), 4332; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094332 - 27 Apr 2026

Viewed by 642

Abstract

This article analyses how capacity building programmes interact with structural constraints in mission-oriented climate policy, focusing on the Italian pilot Let’sGOv (GOverning the Transition through Pilot Actions) within the EU Mission “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030”. Using an iterative, reflexive methodology (document analysis, direct observation, and qualitative analysis of questionnaires, workshop outputs, and online training feedback), it examines how municipal actors experience and reinterpret capacity building across three coupled dimensions: internal organisational capacity, external stakeholder relations, and multilevel governance interfaces. The empirical setting is a network of nine Italian Mission Cities (Bergamo, Bologna, Florence, Milan, Padua, Parma, Prato, Rome, Turin) supported by technical partners. The bench-learning pathway combined barrier diagnosis, an intensive in-person workshop, and a codesigned online curriculum structured around three thematic clusters (engagement, data, climate finance). Findings indicate that persistent barriers—departmental silos, resource and time scarcity, rigid human resources and procurement routines, asymmetric data access, and regulatory instability—are not removed by capacity building; rather, they are progressively articulated, specified, and reframed into actionable organisational and policy demands. Bench-learning strengthens diagnostic and relational capacities and enables modest institutional innovations (templates, protocols, internal task forces, shared policy briefs), while “hard” governance infrastructures largely remain unchanged. The paper argues that networked capacity building contributes to the emergence of nascent, project-dependent multilevel interfaces only when it supports collective negotiation with national actors and translates local experimentation into durable multilevel interfaces, mitigating risks of projectification and downward responsibility shifting. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition and the Collaborative Governance for Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions)

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24 pages, 692 KB

Open AccessArticle

Towards a Social Framework for Green Hydrogen Policies: A Case Study of Argentina’s Patagonia Region

by Luciana Tapia Rattaro and Yehia F. Khalil

Sustainability 2026, 18(8), 3792; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18083792 - 11 Apr 2026

Viewed by 446

Abstract

In Latin America, sustainable commitments towards decarbonizing hard-to-abate industrial sectors have identified hydrogen (H2) as a key enabler for the energy transition. This study develops a policy analytical framework to enhance the green H2 economy, using Argentina as the central case study. Key insights from this study include identifying often-overlooked social challenges within the H2 economy and proposing the integration of social indicators into policy design, with a particular focus on the territorial dynamics of Patagonia, labor conditions, Indigenous participation, governance, and community impacts. Drawing from Social Life Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) guideline standards and H2 justice approach, this study highlights key social hotspots that existing S-LCA tools overlook due to their lack of specific focus on regional territories and their communities. The analysis combines six social impact categories, namely, human rights, working conditions, health and safety, cultural heritage, governance, and socio-economic repercussions as recommended by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), analyzed at three levels, and complemented by the H2 justice approach for Argentina’s potential green H2 production sector. These policy recommendations aim to foster a more resilient and sustainable development of the green H2 industry. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition and the Collaborative Governance for Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions)

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21 pages, 2199 KB

Open AccessArticle

Renewable Electricity Transition, Waste System Modernization, and Sustainable Methane Mitigation: Global Evidence on Governance-Conditioned Co-Benefits

by Yao Lu, Zhongya Ji and Guanxin Yao

Sustainability 2026, 18(7), 3478; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18073478 - 2 Apr 2026

Viewed by 329

Abstract

Achieving sustainability requires that energy transition generates measurable environmental benefits beyond the power sector, yet it remains unclear whether renewable electricity expansion is associated with lower waste sector methane intensity, a major source of short-lived climate forcing. Using a global country–year panel and two-way fixed effects, we examine whether this relationship, and its sustainability implications, varies with development stage, institutional quality, and waste system characteristics. We find no robust inverted-U Environmental Kuznets Curve once country and year fixed effects are included. Instead, higher renewable electricity shares are consistently associated with lower waste sector methane intensity, and this association strengthens with income. A 10-percentage-point increase in renewable share corresponds to about 2.7%, 4.2%, and 6.0% lower intensity at the 25th, 50th, and 75th income percentiles. The negative association is stronger in countries with higher governance quality, while waste management capacity and organic waste composition reveal additional heterogeneity in the observed association. Overall, electricity decarbonization alone is not a uniform instrument for reducing diffuse biological emissions; sustainable methane mitigation likely requires coordinated governance linking renewable transition with waste system modernization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition and the Collaborative Governance for Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions)

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22 pages, 300 KB

Open AccessArticle

To Cooperate Proactively or Pay Fines? Unpacking the Dual Effects of Government Intervention and Market Incentives on Carbon Emissions Intensity in Power Enterprises

by Jia Wang and Xinhua Zhang

Sustainability 2025, 17(23), 10826; https://doi.org/10.3390/su172310826 - 3 Dec 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 518

Abstract

This study identified the impact patterns of carbon price fluctuations and excess penalty mechanisms on power companies’ carbon emissions from the dual perspectives of market incentives and government intervention to address the issues of insufficient incentives for power companies to reduce emissions and environmental regulation mechanisms for emission reduction. Three main conclusions are revealed by the study: First, carbon emissions are significantly suppressed by the Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (EPLPRC), with an inverse U-shaped link between carbon allowance pricing (CAP) and carbon emissions intensity (CEI). Moreover, the two exhibit synergistic effects. Second, two important transmission mechanisms are unit material cost (UMC) and green technological innovation (GHI). Third, there is significant variation in the results of emission reduction. While the inverted U-shaped effect of carbon allowance prices is most noticeable among medium-to-large non-state-owned businesses and in areas with rapid increase in thermal power capacity, EPLPRC works better for small non-state-owned businesses and large state-owned businesses. We also note that in areas where the expansion of thermal power generation is slower, dual environmental policies show significant synergistic impacts. These results offer direction for developing distinct carbon reduction strategies and promoting the power industry’s low-carbon transition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition and the Collaborative Governance for Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions)

21 pages, 1920 KB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Reinforcement Learning-Based Energy Management in Community Microgrids: A Comparative Study

by Olimpiu Nicolae Moga, Adrian Florea, Claudiu Solea and Maria Vintan

Sustainability 2025, 17(23), 10696; https://doi.org/10.3390/su172310696 - 28 Nov 2025

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2206

Abstract

Energy communities represent an important step towards clean energy; however, their management is a complex task due to various factors such as fluctuating demand and energy prices, variable renewable generation, and external factors such as power outages. This paper investigates the effectiveness of a Reinforcement Learning agent, based on the Proximal Policy Optimisation (PPO) algorithm, for energy management across three different energy community configurations. The performance of the PPO agent is compared against a Rule-Based Controller (RBC) and a baseline scenario using solar generation but no active management. Simulations were run in the CityLearn framework to simulate real world data. Across the three evaluated community configurations, the PPO agent achieved its greatest improvement over a single run in the scenario where all participants were prosumers (Schema 3), with a reduction of 9.2% in annual costs and carbon emissions. The main contribution of this work is demonstrating the viability of Reinforcement Learning agents in energy optimization problems, providing an alternative to traditional RBCs for energy communities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition and the Collaborative Governance for Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions)

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25 pages, 658 KB

Open AccessArticle

Can Climate Risk Disclosure Attract Analyst Coverage? A Study Based on the Dual Perspective of Information Supply and Demand

by Mengxue Li and Sheng Yao

Sustainability 2025, 17(9), 3960; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17093960 - 28 Apr 2025

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2937

Abstract

In the context of the intensifying global climate change and its associated risks, the interaction between corporate climate risk disclosure and analyst forecasting behavior has become a pivotal scholarly focus in sustainability research. This study uses a sample of 20,978 firm-year observations from non-financial Chinese A-share listed companies over the period 2007–2021 to examine the impact of corporate climate risk disclosure on analyst coverage, applying ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The results reveal a positive relationship between corporate climate risk disclosure and analyst coverage. This positive effect is more prominent in firms with lower annual report readability, a higher proportion of independent institutional investors, and in contexts involving team analysts or analysts from large brokerage firms. Mechanism analysis reveals two pathways for increased analyst coverage: increasing institutional investors’ demand for information and reducing analysts’ reliance on on-site research to uncover private information. Further research reveals that severe and chronic risk disclosures attract more analyst coverage than transition risk disclosures. Additionally, climate risk disclosure can significantly reduce analyst forecast dispersion and long-term forecast bias. Overall, this study holds important implications for improving corporate climate risk disclosure practices and enhancing analysts’ role as information intermediaries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Transition and the Collaborative Governance for Reduction of Pollution and Carbon Emissions)

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