Recent Advances in Environmental Economics Toward Sustainability
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2027 | Viewed by 476
Special Issue Editors
Interests: international accounting; environmental accounting; education; sustainability accounting and finance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: quality management; business administration; branding; integrity management systems
Interests: corporate governance; green finance; organizational models; risk management; data analysis
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The accelerating integration of artificial intelligence (AI), circular economy principles, and sustainability imperatives is challenging traditional performance assessment models. Historically rooted in linear, efficiency-driven metrics, performance evaluation must now grapple with a new landscape where long-term impact, systemic interdependence, ethical considerations, and regenerative value creation are central.
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, which aims to explore how AI technologies, circularity thinking, and evolving cultural paradigms converge to redefine performance and environmental economics for sustainability in the public, private, and civil sectors. We especially welcome work addressing the growing role of AI and digitalization in shaping how performance in environmental economics is monitored and judged. While data-driven tools promise efficiency, they also introduce risks tied to opacity, bias, and ethical accountability. Since automated systems increasingly influence decision-making and sustainability becomes a non-negotiable focus, we are urged to revisit what we value, how we measure it, and whose voices define success.
As sustainability reporting becomes mainstream, professional standards are under increasing pressure to evolve, and policy frameworks are striving to keep pace. Accountants and auditors are increasingly called upon to evaluate non-financial disclosures, verify ESG claims, and assess climate and impact risks, often using data sets, methodologies, and ethical frameworks that are still in flux. We seek contributions that engage with this multidimensional challenge—advancing environmental economics for sustainability at the intersections of technology, ethics, circularity, and accountability.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome, and research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- AI and the automation of sustainability evaluation;
- Algorithmic governance in performance assessment;
- Digitalization’s impacts on productivity, sustainability reporting, and decision-making;
- Rethinking metrics for circular and regenerative systems;
- Cultural and educational insights on value and environmental economics;
- The integration of circularity, waste management, and resource optimization into environmental economics metrics;
- Trade-offs between cost efficiency and ecological responsibility;
- Case studies on ESG, smart cities, sustainable finance, and platform economies;
- Emerging principles for assessing “good” practices in complex systems.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Liliana Ionescu-Feleagă
Prof. Dr. Elena Condrea
Dr. Ionela Munteanu
Prof. Dr. Bogdan Ştefan Ionescu
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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
- environmental economics
- performance assessment
- sustainability evaluation
- sustainable finance
- ESG
- performance metrics
- digitalization
- circular economy
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