Economic Policies for the Sustainability Transition

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability transition calls for a deep transformation of the economy, the society and the technological system, leading to a better life in a prosperous planet. The transition is largely triggered and accompanied by a wide range of public policies that intentionally introduce sustainability strategies, e.g., the European Union’s Green Deal, legislation and regulations, fiscal and market-based instruments, selection and conditionality criteria to drive companies (production) and people (consumption) towards sustainability. Dynamically, markets are expected to converge towards a paradigm of green economy and green growth in which sustainability can be economically self-sustained while becoming the new dominant culture. In this dynamic process, the conventional boundaries of environmental and energy policies are weakening and broadening, as is the case with waste policies and industrial strategies jointly leading to the circular economy, or the overwhelming role of climate change policies in energy and technology policies, as well as for international cooperation for development. The process is one of convergence in which economic and social objectives are increasingly important within environmental and energy policies, while all public policies embody a sustainability dimension, to the point where sustainability is seen as the leading objective of macroeconomic and growth/development policies.

This Special Issue aims at collecting original contributions on the changing landscape of sustainability policies and their economic and social impacts. A desired feature of the proposed papers is the specific consideration of the role of policies at different levels. All policy domains and areas of sustainability can be considered even beyond the core areas of decarbonisation, circular economy, pollution, and biodiversity. All the different steps of the policy cycle can be addressed, from the principles and objectives informing policy design, to multilevel policy implementation, policy effectiveness, the impact of policies on the real world in terms of environmental, social and well-being outcomes, and the interplay between policies and markets. The focus of the papers can be macroeconomic sustainability transition, meso-level and value chain transition, sustainability in specific industries, and local production systems. The papers can be original research articles, including quantitative and empirical analyses, or comprehensive review articles. While the perspective of the Special Issue is a socio-economic one, multidisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approaches are welcome, and it will possibly be preferred if co-authors are from very different disciplinary domains. There is no preferred geographical scope for the proposed papers.

An indicative, but not exhaustive, list of topics is as follows (EESP: environmental, energy and sustainability policies):

• Industrial dynamics and innovations induced by EESP;
• Effectiveness of market-based instruments and innovative regulatory approaches in EESP;
• Cross-sectoral economic implications of EESP;
• Research and innovation in support of EPPS;
• EEPS and consumer behaviour;
• EES implications of non-EES policies;
• Trade policies, international technology transfer and EEPS;
• Sustainability and green economy as a recovery strategies after macroeconomic shocks;
• Public spending and investments for the sustainability transition;
• Financial strategies and innovative financial instruments for sustainability;
• Local redevelopment processes based on sustainability strategies;
• Social equity and well-being effects of EESP;

Prof. Roberto Zoboli
Prof. Massimiliano Mazzanti
Dr. Simone Tagliapietra
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.