Research on the Carbon Emission Management, Sustainability and Corporate Governance

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue converges on the critical interplay of carbon emission management, sustainability, and corporate governance, building on the foundational observation that carbon emissions significantly influence corporate outcomes—from profitability to creditworthiness—while exposing persistent gaps between firms’ stated environmental commitments and their actual practices (greenwashing).

This Special Issue aims to explore in depth the interrelations among carbon emission management, sustainability, and corporate governance, with the objective of resolving the following two critical research issues.

1. The Carbon Transparency Dilemma: Despite emissions being tangible metrics, disparities between reported and actual data persist, particularly in voluntary (e.g., emerging markets) vs. mandatory (e.g., developed economies) disclosure regimes. This topic examines whether voluntary carbon reporting influences corporate outcomes (e.g., cost of capital, profitability) or is sidelined by markets in favor of operational performance.
2. Empirical Gaps in Institutional Impact: Existing studies fail to clarify how institutional environments shape carbon governance, leaving unanswered why some firms achieve credible emission reductions while others engage in greenwashing.

Intended academic contributions are as follows:

1. Governance Mechanisms for Greenwashing Mitigation
   • Analyze board structures (e.g., ESG expertise, stakeholder representation), shareholder activism, and regulatory frameworks (mandatory/voluntary) to enhance reporting integrity.
   • Explore the link between corporate governance codes, agency costs, and carbon transparency—an underexplored area in current research.
2. Cross-Market Institutional Comparisons
   • Contrast governance practices in emerging markets (discretionary reporting, weak oversight) with developed economies (complex regulations) to identify transparency levers.
3. Technology-Driven Governance Innovation
   • Investigate digital tools (blockchain for emission tracking, AI for real-time carbon accounting) to bridge the "tangibility gap" in sustainability reporting.

Methodologies and Objectives

This Special Issue welcomes multidisciplinary approaches, including the following:

Empirical research—Large-N panel data models to correlate governance quality (e.g., board diversity, ESG committee mandates) with emission reduction performance.

Qualitative inquiries—Policy analyses and stakeholder interviews to unpack regulatory design flaws in both regime types.

Theoretical frameworks—Integrating stakeholder theory and resource-based views to develop governance-centric models for decarbonization strategy.

Dr. Nick Tsitsianis
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 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. World is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1200 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.

• carbon emission governance
• greenwashing
• corporate governance structures
• digital sustainability tools