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Circular Economy and Sustainable Transition Under the Dual Carbon Target
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Circular Economy and Sustainable Transition Under the Dual Carbon Target

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 August 2026 | Viewed by 2742

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Kuo Jui Wu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International Business School, Hainan University, Haikou, China
Interests: circular economy; sustainable development; circular/sustainable supply chain management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue explores the integration of circular economy (CE) principles and sustainable transitions in order to achieve China's dual carbon targets (a carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060). It aims to advance interdisciplinary research on systemic strategies that harmonize economic growth, resource efficiency, and climate action.

Focus: This Special Issue emphasizes that CE-driven innovations such as waste valorization, eco-design, and industrial symbiosis can be catalysts for decarbonization. It explores how these strategies reduce emissions, increase resource productivity, and promote equitable socio-economic outcomes.

Scope: Papers will cover different sectors (industry, energy, agriculture, urban systems), scales (micro to macro), and methodologies (quantitative modeling, policy analysis, case studies, text mining, etc.), covering topics that include, but are not limited to, life cycle assessments, green finance, theoretical framework development, and behavioral changes in consumption/production.

Purpose: By bridging the gap between CE and climate action, this Special Issue aims to provide actionable insights for policymakers, businesses, and researchers to help them align environmental goals with economic resilience.

This Special Issue complements the existing literature by combining fragmented CE and decarbonization research into a coherent framework. While previous studies often isolate the technical, economic, or social dimensions of these issues, this collection emphasizes systemic integration and provides novel metrics by which to quantify sustainability trade-offs and synergies. It also addresses gaps in policy coherence, particularly in emerging economies navigating dual carbon transitions.

This Special Issue makes a significant contribution to Sustainability's mission by establishing a link between CE practices and quantifiable sustainability outcomes, promoting the utilization of tools to monitor progress and underscoring policies that strike a balance between environmental, social, and economic considerations.

Prof. Dr. Kuo Jui Wu
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-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

  • circular economy
  • dual carbon targets
  • sustainable transition
  • carbon neutrality
  • resource efficiency
  • decarbonization strategies
  • policy integration
  • lifecycle assessment
  • industrial symbiosis
  • green finance

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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

32 pages, 487 KB  
Article
Top Management Teams’ Environmental Attention and ESG Rating Divergence: Evidence from China
by Yishi Qiu and Susheng Wang
Sustainability 2026, 18(8), 4131; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18084131 - 21 Apr 2026
Viewed by 461
Abstract
While Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) rating divergence poses a barrier to accurate sustainability measurement and sustainable investment, how internal managerial cognition addresses this external market misalignment remains underexplored. To address the research question of how executive focus shapes market consensus on corporate [...] Read more.
While Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) rating divergence poses a barrier to accurate sustainability measurement and sustainable investment, how internal managerial cognition addresses this external market misalignment remains underexplored. To address the research question of how executive focus shapes market consensus on corporate sustainability, this study integrates the Attention-Based View and Signaling Theory to examine the potential mitigating role of Top Management Team (TMT) environmental attention on ESG rating divergence. Utilizing high-dimensional fixed-effects regressions and textual analysis, we analyze a sample of Chinese A-share non-financial listed firms from 2015 to 2023. Empirical results indicate that a transparent and forthcoming managerial environmental focus helps reduce rating divergence, thereby partially aligning informational baselines. This cognitive alignment can act as an information calibrator, particularly when environmental issues match the firm’s core industry materiality, and this association appears more pronounced in regions with stringent environmental regulations. Robustness checks support the notion that substantive, quantitative sustainability disclosures driven by executive attention assist in alleviating informational misalignment among external rating agencies. These findings offer socio-economic and policy insights for advancing sustainable development, suggesting that regulators could consider encouraging structured sustainability reporting to support the role of executive cognition in standardizing ESG measurements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Circular Economy and Sustainable Transition Under the Dual Carbon Target)
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23 pages, 474 KB  
Article
Interlocking Director Network and Sustainable Information Disclosure: Evidence from Climate Risk Reporting in China
by Zihui Xu, Zhongxian Liao and Junjun Zhou
Sustainability 2025, 17(23), 10518; https://doi.org/10.3390/su172310518 - 24 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1165
Abstract
Corporate climate risk disclosure has become increasingly important globally in combating climate change and achieving sustainable development goals. This study examines the impact of interlocking director networks on corporate climate risk disclosure in emerging markets. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies from [...] Read more.
Corporate climate risk disclosure has become increasingly important globally in combating climate change and achieving sustainable development goals. This study examines the impact of interlocking director networks on corporate climate risk disclosure in emerging markets. Using a sample of Chinese listed companies from 2009 to 2023, we measure interlocking director networks in terms of network breadth and brokerage position. Our results demonstrate that interlocking director networks have a positive and significant impact on corporate climate risk disclosure, and these findings remain robust across multiple specifications. Mechanistically, interlocking director networks promote climate risk disclosure through information transparency and reputational capital. Furthermore, environmental regulation and media attention positively moderate this relationship. We also find important heterogeneity: the positive impact is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises and regions with high physical climate risk exposure. This study provides empirical evidence on the role of director networks in corporate climate risk disclosure and offers practical insights for firms, investors, and regulators in emerging markets to improve disclosure practices and promote sustainable development goals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Circular Economy and Sustainable Transition Under the Dual Carbon Target)
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