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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 October 2026 | Viewed by 5087

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Editor

Prof. Dr. Alina Cristina Nuţă

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Guest Editor

1. School of Global Business & Leadership, Danubius International University, Galati, Romania
2. Women Researchers Council, Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), Istiqlaliyyat Str. 6, Baku 1001, Azerbaijan
3. Faculty of Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania
Interests: sustainable development; finance, green finance; energy economics; environmental economics; FinTech; stock market; public economics; taxation; social policy, public spending
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability, in a broader sense, can be achieved by decoupling economic and social activities from climate change, which generates greenhouse gas emissions. In this challenging endeavor, energy plays a decisive role, with targets set for a transition towards renewable sources and diversifying consumption to decrease emissions. Besides reducing emissions, environmental sustainability includes a focus on other aspects, such as biodiversity protection, urban green development, environmental regeneration, and active initiatives. The costs and trade-offs significantly challenge nations and global markets, stretching budgetary boundaries. The limited nature of financial resources stresses the importance of coherent public policies in determining the adequate balance of actions. Many national economies struggle with development issues, chronic public deficits, and other structural deficiencies, such as weak institutional frameworks.

In this complex context, this Special Issue will select theoretical and empirical original studies approaching topics such as, but not limited to, the following:

the impact of energy transition on social and economic sustainability;
energy diversification in the context of just transition;
energy transition and social justice;
technological innovation for energy transition;
internalizing externalities and sustainable development;
policy instruments for environmental sustainability;
renewable energy environmental costs and benefits;
green growth and sustainable development;
green urban development.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Alina Cristina Nuţă
Guest Editor

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 economics
sustainable energy
energy transition
decarbonization
economic and energy efficiency
environmental justice
sustainable development
climate-resilient development
sustainable/green finance
biodiversity
natural resources
social equity

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 2240 KB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Cost, Fiscal Policy, and Energy Transition in Saudi Arabia: A Macro-Level Time-Series Analysis of Carbon Intensity

by Aida Osman Abdalla Bilal, Manal Elhaj, Safia Omer, Nouf Binhadab and Azzah Saad Alzahrani

Sustainability 2026, 18(15), 7591; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18157591 - 26 Jul 2026

Viewed by 309

Abstract

In the context of global climate issues and the transition towards sustainable development, this study examines the relationship between environmental cost, public expenditure, energy structure, and institutional quality in Saudi Arabia over the period 1994–2023, where environmental cost is proxied by the carbon intensity of GDP. To capture both long-run relationships and short-run dynamics, the study applies the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL)-Error Correction Model (ECM) framework. The results confirm the existence of a stable long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables. Public expenditure and energy use significantly increase carbon intensity, indicating that fiscal expansion and energy intensity remain important sources of environmental pressure. In contrast, renewable electricity generation and improvements in institutional quality significantly reduce carbon intensity, highlighting the importance of clean energy deployment and effective governance. Economic growth exhibits a small but statistically significant negative effect on carbon intensity, suggesting gradual progress toward relative decoupling between economic activity and environmental cost. The error-correction coefficient indicates rapid adjustment toward the long-run equilibrium following short-run shocks. These findings provide policy-relevant evidence for aligning fiscal policy, energy transition strategies, and institutional reforms with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and broader sustainability objectives in resource-dependent economies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Economics, Energy Transition and Environmental Sustainability)

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25 pages, 4450 KB

Open AccessArticle

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Energy Consumption Carbon Emissions and Regional Low-Carbon Sustainable Development in China

by Xiaodong Zhang and Zidong Wu

Sustainability 2026, 18(14), 7157; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18147157 - 13 Jul 2026

Viewed by 491

Abstract

Against the backdrop of optimizing national energy mix and advancing industrial low-carbon transformation to achieve sustainable socioeconomic development, this study adopts prefecture-level panel data covering 2005–2020 to reveal the spatiotemporal evolution law of carbon emissions generated by urban energy consumption. We systematically characterize emission disparities from three dimensions: total carbon output, per capita carbon emissions, and carbon emission intensity, and further adopt regression analysis to quantitatively identify core socioeconomic and industrial drivers behind energy-related carbon flows. The results indicate that China’s total urban energy carbon emissions kept rising over the research window with decelerating growth momentum. Driven by cross-regional industrial transfer and uneven energy resource endowments, high-emission zones gradually spread from eastern coastal agglomerations to northern and western inland territories, forming a stable spatial layout of high emissions in the east and north, and low emissions in the west and south. Per capita carbon emissions present striking regional differentiation: northwest resource-abundant provinces become concentrated high-value clusters, while populous southeast regions maintain relatively low levels, with inter-regional per capita emission gaps continuously widening. Nationwide carbon emission intensity maintained a persistent downward trend; high-intensity zones shrank markedly while low-carbon areas expanded continuously, and inter-regional efficiency gradients gradually converged, reflecting tangible achievements in nationwide energy conservation and low-carbon industrial transition. Overall, the gravity center of energy carbon emissions shifted northwestward, with Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Ningxia evolving into major high-emission hotspots relying on fossil energy exploitation and heavy industrial layout. Statistical regression associations suggest that urban construction land expansion, economic expansion, foreign capital agglomeration, and industrial energy carbon outputs are positively correlated with urban carbon emissions; by contrast, commercial housing scale and domestic enterprise development present significant negative correlational links with emission levels. The differentiated spatiotemporal carbon landscape arises from the joint interplay of regional resource endowment, coal-dominated energy structure, industrial layout restructuring, and tiered low-carbon policy implementation, demonstrating China’s overall shift from high-carbon extensive industrial growth toward energy-efficient, low-carbon intensive sustainable development. This research delivers empirical evidence for formulating zoned carbon abatement schemes, optimizing regional energy allocation and industrial layouts, and advancing long-term low-carbon sustainable development to fulfill China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Economics, Energy Transition and Environmental Sustainability)

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28 pages, 2108 KB

Open AccessArticle

Decarbonizing France: Asymmetric and State-Dependent Effects of Growth, Energy, Trade, and Innovation on CO₂ Emissions

by Ihsen Abid

Sustainability 2026, 18(12), 5806; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18125806 - 6 Jun 2026

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 507

Abstract

This study examines the asymmetric and distribution-dependent effects of economic growth, renewable energy consumption, energy use, trade openness, and innovation on CO₂ emissions in France over the period 1990–2024. It aims to understand how positive and negative shocks in key macroeconomic variables shape emissions dynamics within a mature low-carbon economy and their implications for environmental sustainability and sustainable energy transition. The analysis employs a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model to capture short- and long-run asymmetries, combined with the bounds testing approach for cointegration and Newey–West corrections for robust inference. To account for distributional heterogeneity, simultaneous quantile regressions (Q25, Q50, Q75) are estimated. The results reveal significant nonlinearities and state-dependent effects. Reductions in renewable energy exert stronger upward pressures on emissions than the mitigating effects of increases, highlighting a loss-dominance asymmetry. Energy use and trade openness exhibit asymmetric and persistent emission-increasing effects, while innovation reduces emissions primarily in the short run and during high-emission regimes. Economic growth shows no significant long-run impact, suggesting partial decoupling. Overall, emissions responses vary across both time and conditional distribution. The findings indicate that climate policies in France should prioritize renewable energy stability, energy-system flexibility, and targeted innovation strategies to effectively manage asymmetric and state-dependent environmental dynamics. The study further demonstrates that achieving long-run sustainability objectives requires adaptive climate policies capable of addressing nonlinear and distribution-dependent emissions responses within France’s low-carbon economic structure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Economics, Energy Transition and Environmental Sustainability)

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41 pages, 1951 KB

Open AccessArticle

Natural Resource Rents and Capital Formation Nexus: Empirical Evidence on Foreign Direct Investment as a Moderator from the BRICS Economies

by Fahmida Laghari, Farhan Ahmed, Rafique Ur Rehman Memon and Daniela Haluza

Sustainability 2026, 18(1), 547; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18010547 - 5 Jan 2026

Viewed by 1742

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of natural resource rents (natural gas, forests, minerals, and oil) on capital formation in BRICS economies from 1990 to 2023. It focuses on the importance of natural resource rents and their influence on capital formation in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is included as a moderating factor. Using the method of moment quantile regression (MMQR), the study finds that higher natural resource rents reduce gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) in the upper quantiles. In contrast, FDI dampens these adverse effects and strengthens the positive impact on GFCF in the upper quantiles. Granger causality analysis reveals that natural gas rent, FDI, GDP, trade openness, domestic investment, and institutional quality all affect capital formation, with feedback relationships evident. There is unidirectional causality from forest rent and mineral rent to capital formation, and from capital formation to inflation and financial development. Propensity score matching (PSM) indicates that BRICS economies with higher FDI also have higher GFCF, owing to FDI’s influence on resource rents. The seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) analysis for cross-country comparison indicates that Russia has higher NGR, FR, and OR, resulting in more pronounced negative changes in Russia’s capital formation than in India. Additionally, the results of the SUR analysis indicate that China’s higher NGR, FR, and OR are associated with larger adverse changes in capital formation than those in Russia. The findings from additional analysis using the PSTR model, with gross capital formation as the dependent variable, indicate that when institutions are weak, natural resources reduce gross capital formation and foreign investment in resource sectors yields minimal spillovers. However, when institutions are stronger, natural resources are used productively, and investment from outside the resource sector yields broader benefits, boosting GCF. Moreover, robustness checks using panel fixed-effects regression and endogeneity analysis with a system GMM estimator show that higher natural resource rents are associated with weaker capital formation, and that FDI mitigates the negative influence of natural resource rents as a moderating factor. These empirical results can inform policy recommendations on natural resource rents and FDI to achieve high capital formation in BRICS economies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Economics, Energy Transition and Environmental Sustainability)

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Review

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29 pages, 2357 KB

Open AccessReview

Concentrated Solar Power in India: Resource Potential, Economic Assessment, and a Comparative Study of Growth Pathways

by Rohit Singh and Ramadas Narayanan

Sustainability 2026, 18(16), 8180; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18168180 - 10 Aug 2026

Viewed by 280

Abstract

Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) is a strategic clean-energy technology for India, combining high-efficiency electricity generation with thermal storage to enable power supply beyond daylight hours. This review maps CSP potential across India by analysing solar resource distribution, the suitability of different CSP technologies (e.g., parabolic troughs and solar towers), and economic feasibility under current cost and policy conditions. It evaluates recent developments in deployment, technology maturity and financing mechanisms, while identifying key barriers such as land availability, grid integration and investment risk. In addition, the study identifies research gaps related to large-scale deployment, cost-reduction strategies, and long-term performance under Indian climatic conditions, and outlines future research directions and policy pathways to accelerate CSP adoption in India. By drawing on recent data and trends, the paper offers insight into how CSP can complement the ongoing expansion of renewable electricity and contribute to India’s goal of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil installed capacity by 2030 and net-zero by 2070. The analysis aims to support researchers, policymakers and industry stakeholders in making informed decisions to scale CSP deployment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Economics, Energy Transition and Environmental Sustainability)

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