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Sustainability
Special Issues
Green Economic Systems and Regional Sustainability Transitions
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Green Economic Systems and Regional Sustainability Transitions

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2026) | Viewed by 1624

Editors

Dr. Konstantina Ragazou

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Guest Editor
Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece
Interests: sustainable development; sustainable decision making; sustainable regional development
Dr. Georgia Zournatzidou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Business Administration, University of Western Macedonia, 51100 Grevena, Greece
Interests: sustainability; volatility; green finance; computational finance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. George Sklavos

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Guest Editor
Department of Business Administration, University of Thessaly, 41500 Larissa, Greece
Interests: management; green entrepreneurship; digital transformation; green management; sustainable business performance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Nikolaos Sariannidis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Accounting and Finance, School of Economics, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Koila-Kozani, Greece
Interests: sustainable development; economic development; eco-efficiency; corporate washing; financial stability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue invites original research, critical reviews, and conceptual contributions that explore the integration of green economic frameworks, economic geography, and regional sustainability transitions. As regions increasingly become focal points in global sustainability efforts, there is a pressing need to understand how ecological valuation systems—such as natural capital assessment, green GDP modeling, and circular economy frameworks—can inform regional planning for low-carbon, resilient, and equitable development. 

Aim of the Special Issue: The goal is to establish an interdisciplinary platform for examining how sustainability-driven economic practices can be embedded in regional systems, with a focus on their potential to safeguard ecological integrity, enhance governance, and address spatial inequalities. We aim to bridge theory and practice, exploring how regions can leverage natural and social capital to foster just transitions toward sustainability. 

Scope and Themes: We welcome submissions from diverse disciplines, including regional science, sustainability studies, ecological economics, and urban planning. Both theoretical and empirical approaches are encouraged, with a strong preference for research that highlights tangible impacts on sustainability outcomes. 

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following: the integration of ecological valuation, natural capital accounting, and green GDP into regional economic modeling; spatial disparities in eco-efficiency, carbon neutrality, and circular economy implementation; sub-national strategies for climate adaptation, decarbonization, and biodiversity conservation; the role of regional policies in fostering sustainable industrial agglomeration and low-carbon innovation; the application of spatial econometric models, system dynamics, or scenario planning to assess sustainability pathways; community-led initiatives and governance structures for equitable regional transitions; the alignment of regional development with global frameworks; and contributions to global discourse. 

Dr. Konstantina Ragazou
Dr. Georgia Zournatzidou
Dr. George Sklavos
Prof. Dr. Nikolaos Sariannidis
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

  • green economic systems
  • economic geography
  • regional sustainability transitions
  • ecological resilience
  • circular economy
  • spatial policy
  • green GDP
  • natural capital
  • equitable development

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 2298 KB  
Article
Environmental Tax Races in a Decentralised System: Evidence of Regional Interaction in Climate Policy
by Jaime Vallés-Giménez, Anabel Zárate-Marco and Guillermo Peña
Sustainability 2026, 18(12), 6323; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18126323 - 19 Jun 2026
Viewed by 613
Abstract
Environmental taxation constitutes a key instrument of climate policy and plays an increasingly important role in decentralised governance systems. Using Spain as an empirical setting characterised by high fiscal decentralisation and pronounced territorial heterogeneity, we analyse the determinants of regional environmental taxation, accounting [...] Read more.
Environmental taxation constitutes a key instrument of climate policy and plays an increasingly important role in decentralised governance systems. Using Spain as an empirical setting characterised by high fiscal decentralisation and pronounced territorial heterogeneity, we analyse the determinants of regional environmental taxation, accounting for both internal regional conditions and cross-regional policy interaction. Employing spatial panel econometric techniques, we provide robust evidence of spatial interaction and temporal persistence in regional environmental taxation at both the intensive and extensive margins. We also find that regional environmental taxation depends not only on domestic economic, institutional, and political characteristics, but also on those of neighbouring regions. These patterns are consistent with key theoretical mechanisms in fiscal federalism and public economics, including tax competition, yardstick competition, the double dividend hypothesis, NIMBY-type responses, and development–environment dynamics. Fur-ther analysis at the intensive margin reveals adjustment patterns consistent primarily with upward dynamics, although some evidence of downward responses is also found. In particular, upward adjustments appear to be more systematic, while downward responses are limited to regions with relatively lower environmental taxation. This asymmetry sug-gests that competitive pressures do not operate uniformly across jurisdictions. From a sustainability and governance perspective, the findings show that environmental tax policies in decentralised systems are shaped by strategic inter-regional interdependence, influencing the trajectories of regional sustainability transitions rather than reflecting isolated policy choices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Economic Systems and Regional Sustainability Transitions)
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21 pages, 1682 KB  
Article
Regional Embeddedness of Green Economic Systems: Evidence from Mandatory Environmental Disclosures in EU Corporate Sustainability Reports
by Matic Čufar, Andreja Primec and Jernej Belak
Sustainability 2026, 18(12), 6025; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18126025 - 12 Jun 2026
Viewed by 313
Abstract
In recent years, non-financial reporting has become a central regulatory instrument for integrating environmental considerations into corporate accountability frameworks in the European Union. This study examines regional variation in mandatory environmental disclosures contained in corporate sustainability reports prepared under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive [...] Read more.
In recent years, non-financial reporting has become a central regulatory instrument for integrating environmental considerations into corporate accountability frameworks in the European Union. This study examines regional variation in mandatory environmental disclosures contained in corporate sustainability reports prepared under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). The analysis adopts a regional perspective, assuming that more economically developed regions are associated with greater environmental pressures and therefore exhibit more comprehensive environmental reporting practices. Regions are classified at the NUTS 2 level using GDP per capita in purchasing power standards (PPSs), enabling a systematic comparison between more and less developed regions across the EU. The empirical analysis relies exclusively on publicly available corporate sustainability reports and is deliberately limited to legally mandated environmental disclosures. A structured qualitative content analysis is applied to 20 companies operating across multiple EU Member States, with firms assigned to regions based on the location of their registered headquarters. The results provide exploratory evidence of a positive association between regional economic development (GDP per capita at the NUTS 2 level) and the comprehensiveness of mandatory environmental disclosures. The results provide empirically grounded insights into the strengths and limitations of mandatory sustainability reporting as a governance mechanism and contribute to ongoing debates on the capacity of the CSRD to enhance sustainability-oriented corporate accountability across diverse regional contexts within the EU. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Economic Systems and Regional Sustainability Transitions)
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