Search Results (808)

With the acceleration of urbanization and the continuous rise in private car ownership, urban traffic congestion has become a critical issue constraining sustainable development. As an important extension of carbon reduction policies, the personal carbon trading mechanism provides a new approach to regulate travel behavior through economic incentives. This study constructs a game model incorporating stakeholders from both government and private car owners, explores their decision-making behaviors under the personal carbon trading mechanism, and conducts simulation analysis of evolutionary paths using MATLAB 2019a. The findings reveal that choosing public transportation results from interactive strategic interactions between government and private car owners. Proactive implementation of personal carbon trading policies by the government can accelerate private car owners’ adoption of public transportation strategies. Reducing government implementation costs of personal carbon trading (PCT), increasing carbon trading costs for private cars (through higher carbon prices or lower allowances), and improving public transit comfort are key factors in achieving equilibrium between government and private car owners’ strategies. Carbon trading costs exhibit differentiated impacts on the convergence speed of both parties’ states. This research aims to provide decision-making references for governments in formulating and implementing personal carbon trading systems, as well as motivating private car owners to adopt green and environmentally friendly travel behaviors. Full article

With globalization rising, much scholarship has presented “a race to the bottom” regarding standards posing serious environmental concerns. This paper considers the debate of globalization leading to a “race to the bottom” or, contrastingly, a “race to the top.” With the growth of information technology and communication, the paper explores existing frameworks to advance green computing in the globalized context. Given a notable void in policy-driven frameworks in the current green computing literature, the paper proposes a comprehensive five-component policy framework to advance green computing, relying on norms and mandates for success. The framework includes the following: 1. Public policy involvement to drive private corporate sustainability. 2. Investment in green technology via government intervention. 3. Industrywide organizations promoting sustainable computing. 4. Proper disposal of computing equipment. 5. Comprehensive industry standards. Ultimately, this framework passionately advocates for the advancement of green computing and encourages further empirical research and evaluation of its respective elements. Full article

This study systematically reviews and re-evaluates the international competitiveness and economic sustainability of China’s solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. Based on the PRISMA protocol, it integrates both qualitative and quantitative evidence from 70 core English-language publications published between 2000 and 2025. An analytical framework is developed that combines keyword co-occurrence analysis, thematic clustering, and mechanism pathway mapping. The study identifies three key thematic domains: policy governance mechanisms, economic feasibility and cost structures, and the coupling between technological innovation and environmental performance. The findings reveal a transition in China’s PV development pathway—from early policy-driven expansion to the co-evolution of institutional adaptation and market mechanisms—highlighting the dynamic tension among multi-level variables. Four institutional dimensions and associated variable chains are proposed, uncovering long-term contradictions such as the reliance on subsidies versus structural efficiency and the strategic mismatch between national industrial strategies and global decarbonization goals. The study suggests that future research should prioritize system modeling, feedback mechanism identification, and the theoretical expansion of multi-level governance frameworks. In doing so, this review provides a reusable variable classification framework for analyzing green industrial transformation and offers policy insights for emerging economies engaged in global climate governance. Full article

Electric mobility is increasingly recognised as a sustainable transportation solution worldwide. While the economic and environmental aspects of e-mobility have been explored extensively, social dimensions such as equity, accessibility, and inclusiveness remain underexplored. Existing literature on these social aspects is fragmented across disciplines, shaped by varying regional contexts, which complicates efforts to form a coherent understanding of the field. To address this gap, a bibliometric analysis was conducted using the R-studio software via the Biblioshiny app. Version 4.3.0. This analysis systematically maps the intellectual landscape, identifies dominant themes, and highlights critical research gaps at the intersection of e-mobility and social sustainability. A total of 490 publications were extracted from the Scopus database as of 23 March 2025. The findings reveal a sharp increase in scholarly attention since 2018, peaking at 110 publications in 2024. The top-ranked country is China, which has 130 publications. In addition, the research has clustered around four thematic areas: energy and charging infrastructure, social and economic impacts, public policy and regulations, and technological innovations. Despite this growth, persistent gaps remain, particularly concerning social equity, inclusive policy design, socio-economic disparities, and the real-world effects of emerging technologies on vulnerable populations. Future research should specifically explore how e-mobility initiatives can reduce regional access inequalities, generate quality green employment, and ensure that technologies such as vehicle-to-grid systems are equitably deployed to benefit low-income and marginalised populations. Full article

Reducing energy intensity is critical for combating climate change, yet current progress remains insufficient to meet international targets. Green-oriented policy narratives hold significant potential for mitigating energy intensity, but existing research lacks regional-level quantitative analysis. This study examines how green-oriented policy narratives influence urban energy intensity. We analyze textual data from Chinese provincial Party newspapers using large language models and LDA topic modeling to measure narrative-related variables, then combine these measures with panel data from 288 Chinese cities spanning 2010–2022. The findings reveal that green-oriented policy narrative exposure significantly reduces urban energy intensity through promoting green credit development and stimulating green innovation, with the negative effect strengthening as the prominence of the public and narrativity of narratives increase. Heterogeneity analysis further shows that narrative effectiveness is amplified in cities with higher internet penetration and marketization levels. This study broadens research on energy intensity determinants beyond traditional policy instruments, extends green-oriented narrative effects from the micro to macro level, and offers insights for leveraging narratives and contextual conditions to promote energy conservation. Full article

Urban street greening structure plays a crucial role in promoting environmental justice and enhancing residents’ daily well-being, yet existing studies have primarily focused on vegetation quantity while neglecting how perception and governance interact to shape fairness. This study develops an integrated analytical framework that combines deep learning, machine learning, and spatial analysis to examine the impact of perceptual experience and socio-economic indicators on the equity of greening structure distribution in urban streets, and to reveal the underlying mechanisms driving this equity. Using DeepLabV3+ semantic segmentation, perception indices derived from street-view imagery, and population-weighted Gini coefficients, the study quantifies both the structural and perceptual dimensions of greening equity. XGBoost regression, SHAP interpretation, and Partial Dependence Plot analysis were applied to reveal the influence mechanism of the “Matthew effect” of perception and the Site governance responsiveness on the fairness of the green structure. The results identify two key findings: (1) perception has a positive driving effect and a negative vicious cycle effect on the formation of fairness, where positive perceptions such as beauty and safety gradually enhance fairness, while negative perceptions such as depression and boredom rapidly intensify inequality; (2) Site management with environmental sensitivity and dynamic mutual feedback to a certain extent determines whether the fairness of urban green structure can persist under pressure, as diverse Tree–Bush–Grass configurations reflect coordinated management and lead to more balanced outcomes. Policy strategies should therefore emphasize perceptual monitoring, flexible maintenance systems, and transparent public participation to achieve resilient and equitable urban street greening structures. Full article

The development of energy systems toward a decarbonized economy is increasingly constrained not only by technological challenges, but also by deficiencies in the organization, coordination, and governability of sustainable financing. This study aims to substantiate an integrated conceptual model and a multi-level governance framework for the sustainable financing mechanism of energy system development under decarbonization, ensuring the alignment of financial instruments with transition strategies, performance indicators, and feedback mechanisms. The methodology combines a bibliometric analysis of Scopus-indexed journal publications with an examination of international statistical and analytical data produced by leading global organizations, complemented by systemic, institutional, and comparative analytical approaches. The bibliometric analysis was conducted in 2025 and covered peer-reviewed articles published during 2017–2025, while empirical financial indicators were synthesized for the most recent available period of 2022–2024 using comparable time-series data reported by international institutions. The results indicate that despite global energy investments reaching approximately $3 trillion in 2024—nearly $2 trillion of which was allocated to clean energy technologies—a persistent annual financing gap for climate change mitigation in the energy sector remains. Moreover, to remain consistent with the Net Zero trajectory, investments in clean energy must increase by approximately 1.7 times by 2030. The synthesis of contemporary research and empirical evidence reveals a predominance of studies focused on individual green and transition finance instruments, accompanied by persistent fragmentation between financial flows, governance structures, and measurable decarbonization outcomes. To address this gap, the paper proposes a conceptual model that interprets sustainable finance as a governed system rather than a collection of isolated instruments, together with a multi-level governance framework integrating strategic (policy), sectoral, and project-level decision-making with systems of key performance indicators, monitoring, and feedback. The findings demonstrate that the effectiveness of sustainable financing critically depends on the coherence between financial instruments, governance architectures, and decarbonization objectives, which ultimately determines the capacity to translate mobilized capital into tangible energy infrastructure modernization and measurable emissions reductions. The proposed approach provides a practical foundation for improving energy transition policies and investment strategies at both national and supranational levels. Full article

Even though environmental health and climate change are rapidly intensifying the severity of determinants of disease and inequity, training for health professionals in these areas remains fragmented across Europe. To address this gap, the European Medical Association (EMA), in collaboration with the European Network on Climate and Health Education (ENCHE), the International Network on Public Health and Environment Tracking (INPHET) and University College London, convened a one-day hybrid roundtable in London on 17 September 2025, focused on “Preparing Health Professionals for Environmental Health and Climate Change: A Challenge for Europe”. The programme combined keynote presentations on global and European policy, health economics and curriculum design with three disease-focused roundtables (respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological conditions), each examining the following topics: (A) climate and environment as preventable causes of disease; (B) healthcare as a source of environmental harm; and (C) capacity building through education and training. Contributors highlighted how environmental epidemiology, community-based prevention programmes and sustainable clinical practice can be integrated into teaching, illustrating models from respiratory, cardiovascular, surgical and neurological care. EU-level speakers outlined the policy framework (European Green Deal, Zero Pollution Action Plan and forthcoming global health programme) and tools through which professional and scientific societies can both inform and benefit from European action on environment and health. Discussions converged on persistent obstacles, including patchy national commitments to decarbonising healthcare, isolated innovations that are not scaled and curricula that do not yet embed sustainability in examinable clinical competencies. The conference concluded with proposals to develop an operational education package on environmental and climate health; map and harmonise core competencies across undergraduate, postgraduate and Continuing -professional-development pathways; and establish a permanent EMA-led working group to co-produce a broader position paper with professional and scientific societies. This conference report summarises the main messages and is intended as a bridge between practice-based experience and a formal EMA position on environmental-health training in Europe. Full article

Urban heat islands pose intensifying threats to public health, equity, and urban livability as climate change amplifies temperature extremes. This systematic review synthesizes evidence from 33 primary studies (2021–2025) examining health impacts, mitigation strategies, and policy integration. The analysis focuses on interaction mechanisms, specifically how mitigation strategies differentially reduce health burdens across vulnerable populations, to advance systems-level understanding of urban heat dynamics. Following PRISMA guidelines, the review examined these mechanisms across three interconnected domains: health burdens, physical mitigation effectiveness, and post-pandemic policy synergies. Findings reveal profound inequities in heat exposure and associated health outcomes, with disadvantaged populations experiencing 26–45% higher heat-related mortality risk and 3–4 °C greater exposure than affluent communities, even after controlling for income. Physical mitigation strategies show measurable effectiveness, providing 1–6 °C cooling from green infrastructure and 2–22 °C from cool surfaces. Optimal interventions vary by socioeconomic context, with urban trees being more effective in disadvantaged areas, while cool roofs are better suited to affluent zones. COVID-19 natural experiments demonstrated 30–50% anthropogenic heat reductions, revealing strategic opportunities for integrating heat mitigation with 15-Minute City planning and work-from-home normalization. Effective implementation requires moving beyond isolated interventions toward spatially differentiated, equity-centered strategies aligned across planning, transportation, and governance domains. The post-pandemic period presents a critical window for embedding heat mitigation into broader urban transformation agendas. Full article

Urban forests and green spaces are increasingly promoted as Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) to mitigate climate risks, enhance human well-being, and support resilient and sustainable cities. Focusing on the theme of optimizing urban green space ecosystem services to foster resilient and sustainable cities, this study systematically analyzes 861 relevant publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection from 2005 to 2025. Using bibliometric analysis and scientific knowledge mapping methods, the research examines publication characteristics, spatial distribution patterns, collaboration networks, knowledge bases, research hotspots, and thematic evolution trajectories. The results reveal a rapid upward trend in this field over the past two decades, with the gradual formation of a multidisciplinary knowledge system centered on environmental science and urban research. China, the United States, and several European countries have emerged as key nodes in global knowledge production and collaboration networks. Keyword co-occurrence and cluster analyses indicate that research themes are mainly concentrated in four clusters: (1) ecological foundations and green process orientation, (2) nature-based solutions and blue–green infrastructure configuration, (3) social needs and environmental justice, and (4) macro-level policies and the sustainable development agenda. Overall, the field has evolved from a focus on ecological processes and individual service functions toward a comprehensive transition emphasizing climate resilience, human well-being, and multi-actor governance. Based on these findings, this study constructs a knowledge ecosystem framework encompassing knowledge base, knowledge structure, research hotspots, frontier trends, and future pathways. It further identifies prospective research directions, including climate change adaptation, integrated planning of blue–green infrastructure, refined monitoring driven by remote sensing and spatial big data, and the embedding of urban green space ecosystem services into the Sustainable Development Goals and multi-level governance systems. These insights provide data support and decision-making references for deepening theoretical understanding of Urban Green Space Ecosystem Services (UGSES), improving urban green infrastructure planning, and enhancing urban resilience governance capacity. Full article

Against the backdrop of global warming, extreme heat events have become increasingly frequent and persistent across Chinese cities, posing severe threats to public health, industrial safety, and urban operations. Enhancing urban climate adaptation through the development of green infrastructure has therefore emerged as a critical governance priority. As a major national initiative promoting urban forest development and ecological civilization, the National Forest City Policy offers a potentially important pathway for mitigating extreme heat, yet its climate adaptation effects remain insufficiently examined through rigorous empirical evidence. This study takes the implementation of the National Forest City Policy as an exogenous policy shock to urban greening and employs panel data from Chinese 243 prefecture-level cities from 2000 to 2023 to conduct a difference-in-differences model, supplemented by an event-study approach, to identify the policy’s impact on annual extreme heat days. The empirical findings indicate that, after controlling for a series of socioeconomic characteristics, the National Forest City Policy significantly reduces the number of extreme heat days experienced by cities each year. Further mechanism analysis reveals that the National Forest City Policy’s mitigation effect is more pronounced in cities with higher Green Coverage Rate, Urban Climate Conditions, and Urban Green Space Quality. By evaluating the environmental impacts of the National Forest City Policy from a climate adaptation perspective, this study enriches the literature on urban forest development and extreme climate events, and provides empirical evidence and policy insights for enhancing urban climate resilience and optimizing greening strategies under China’s “dual-carbon” goals and a warming climate. Full article

Sustainable transport innovation often faces funding gaps, as traditional public and private sources rarely support early-stage or high-risk initiatives. Crowdfunding, enabled by digital transformation, is emerging as a complementary financing mechanism for this sector. This study presents a literature review combined with bibliometric mapping to examine the evolving research landscape on crowdfunding in transport. Three research questions guide the analysis: RQ1—What are the dominant research areas at the intersection of crowdfunding and transport? RQ2—What types of transport projects are financed via crowdfunding? RQ3—What research gaps and future directions emerge for transport innovation financing? Findings reveal three core research areas: (1) Sustainability and finance, (2) Fintech and blockchain, and (3) Management and consumer behavior. We propose a typology of crowdfunded transport projects comprising five categories: (1) Large-scale transport infrastructure, (2) Sustainable local mobility, (3) Innovative start-ups, (4) New business models, and (5) Advanced systems and technologies. This demonstrates crowdfunding’s versatility beyond traditional infrastructure, supporting high-risk innovations critical for decarbonization and technological transformation. The study highlights domain-specific challenges—such as integrating PPP models with digital finance and ensuring investor protection—and emphasizes crowdfunding’s role as an enabler of low-carbon transition aligned with global climate strategies (EU Green Deal, SDGs). Despite its potential, investor safety remains a major concern. Policy implications include sandbox regulation, standardized risk assessment, and operationalizing PPP–crowdfunding hybrids to unlock large-scale and innovative transport projects. Full article

The energy sector is counted among the environmentally unfriendly branches in many global economies, including in Poland. However, it has been pivoting towards alternatives to traditional, high-emission energy generation from non-renewable sources for years. Renewable energy sources, or renewables, are a responsible response to today’s expectations concerning country-level sustainable development, driving the global green energy transition. However, the success of increasing the share of renewables in energy mixes hinges to a large extent on the public perceptions of the changes. In the broadest perspective, research today focuses on global energy transition policy and its funding, problems with the availability of energy carriers, and the adequacy of specific energy production and transfer systems from a technical and technological point of view. Academics tend to concentrate slightly less on investigating the public opinion regarding the challenges of energy transition. This aligns with a relevant research gap for Poland, particularly in rural areas. Therefore, the present article aims to analyse public opinion on environmental protection challenges and the ensuing need to improve energy sourcing to promote the growth of renewable energy in rural Poland, with a case study of five districts in Małopolskie Voivodeship, to contribute to the body of knowledge on these issues. The goal was pursued through a survey of 300 randomly selected inhabitants of the five districts in Malopolska, conducted using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) in 2024. The results were analysed with quantitative techniques and qualitative instruments. The detailed investigation involved descriptive statistics and tests proposed by Fisher, Shapiro–Wilk, and Kruskal–Wallis, using IBM SPSS v.25. The use of the indicated methodological approach to achieve the adopted goal distinguishes the study from the approach of other authors. The primary findings reveal acceptance of the ongoing transition processes among the rural population. It is relatively well aware of the role of renewables, but there is still room for improvement, therefore it is necessary to disseminate knowledge in this area and monitor changes in sustainable awareness. We have also established that, overall, educational background is not a significant discriminative feature in rural perceptions of the energy transition. The conclusions can inform policy models to promote green transformation processes, enabling their adaptation to the current challenges and needs of rural residents. Full article

Socio-economic resilience and sustainable development have become central themes in contemporary public debate, with the transition to sustainable, low-carbon energy systems emerging as a strategic priority. Within this context, our research specifically examines how CSR engagement, renewable energy deployment, and sustainable finance jointly influence firms’ exposure to climate-related financial risks, addressing a gap in the literature regarding corporate-level resilience. The empirical analysis employs a structured two-fold methodological framework comprising robust regression with Huber and biweight iterations, and quantile-on-quantile (Q–Q) regression. The dataset includes 300 European energy companies for 2024, extracted from the LSEG Data & Analytics platform. Our findings reveal that companies in the European energy sector must accelerate their transition to low-carbon operating models. Specifically, firms with stronger sustainability commitments exhibit reduced exposure to climate-induced financial instability and improved long-term performance indicators. These findings underscore the moderating role of CSR and renewable energy investments in enhancing corporate resilience. Sustainability-oriented firms are better positioned to absorb, mitigate, and adapt to climate-related shocks, supporting both environmental objectives and financial stability. Policy recommendations should focus on balancing ESG objectives with financial performance requirements, ensuring that energy companies receive adequate support for the green transition. Such alignment is essential to strengthen corporate resilience and improve the effectiveness of sustainable energy policies amid escalating climate challenges. Full article

Climate change governance has become an essential concern for policymakers, with carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions representing one of the most pressing challenges to sustainable economic development. In this context, understanding the main drivers of CO₂ emissions is essential for designing effective public policies that support Romania’s transition toward a low-carbon economy. This study investigates the determinants of CO₂ emissions in Romania’s energy sector between 2008 and 2023 using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) decomposition method. The analysis considers five key elements: the carbon intensity effect (ΔC), the energy mix effect (ΔM), the energy efficiency effect (ΔL), the economic effect (ΔB), and the population effect (ΔP). The results highlight the need for coherent governance frameworks and targeted policy measures to balance economic expansion with environmental sustainability. The study offers actionable insights for public authorities aiming to strengthen Romania’s climate governance and align national strategies with the objectives of the European Green Deal and climate neutrality by 2050. Full article