Search Results (196)

This mixed-methods study examines the associations among fintech advancement, green finance, and financial inclusion in Jordan, an emerging economy. It draws on a distinctive three-part dataset: survey data from 21 commercial banks (N = 21), a national household survey, and semi-structured interviews with stakeholders. The quantitative results indicate that the positive association between fintech adoption and the provision of green finance is statistically consistent with full mediation by banks’ absorptive capacity, particularly their digital maturity and data analytics capabilities. Proactive regulatory support significantly moderates this mediated relationship. Market demand, by contrast, has no statistically significant moderating effect. At the household level, the combined use of digital and green financial products is associated with higher formal account ownership and with the use of a greater number of financial products. The interviews support these results, pointing to institutional capacity and regulatory clarity as essential enabling factors. Given the cross-sectional bank-level data (N = 21) and the exploratory scope of the mediation analysis, causal interpretations should be avoided. Future longitudinal research is needed to examine temporal dynamics. Even so, these findings offer policymakers an initial empirical framework: channeling fintech toward sustainable development will likely require targeted interventions to build institutional digital capacity and establish clear regulatory frameworks, rather than depending solely on market forces. Full article

This study aims to evaluate the inclusive green growth (IGG) performance of resource-based cities and to diagnose the structural bottlenecks that constrain their transition. Using a city-level panel of 37 resource-based cities in the Yellow River Basin, China, from 2011 to 2024 (518 city-year observations) drawn from official statistical yearbooks, government documents, and remote-sensing products, we construct a multidimensional IGG index covering economic growth, social equity, and environmental protection, measured through entropy-weighted TOPSIS; kernel density estimation, global and local spatial autocorrelation analysis, a gravity-based potential-interaction network, and an obstacle-degree model are then applied to examine temporal evolution, spatial differentiation, and constraint structure. The results show that (1) the basin-wide IGG index rose from 0.2199 to 0.2845 (+29.4%), with a visible adjustment around 2015 and a stronger acceleration after 2020; (2) environmental protection improved fastest (0.7027 in 2024), while economic growth remained the weakest dimension (0.2408); (3) spatial dependence strengthened significantly from 2017 onward, with high-high clusters concentrated in lower-reach Shandong cities; and (4) the economic-growth dimension constitutes the dominant obstacle (54.43%), led by export-capacity and social-insurance shortfalls. A robustness check with an alternative combined weighting scheme confirms these patterns. The findings indicate that transition policy should shift from pollution control toward capability building, with differentiated pathways by city type and river reach. Full article

This study examines the empirical association between horizontal eco-compensation and regional inclusive green growth. Using panel data for 81 cities in eight provinces of the Yellow River Basin from 2012 to 2022, it applies a staggered difference-in-differences model, mediation regressions, and a spatial econometric model. Double machine learning with five-fold cross-fitting is used as a robustness exercise to mitigate multicollinearity and functional-form misspecification. Conditional on city and year fixed effects and the included covariates, policy implementation is positively associated with inclusive green growth in pilot cities. The mediation regressions are consistent with three possible channels—total factor productivity, science and technology expenditure, and industrial upgrading—but do not establish definitive causal mediation. The spatial estimates indicate a significant negative association with inclusive green growth in neighboring cities. Within-group estimates are significant for upstream and downstream cities but not for midstream cities, and the midstream estimate is significantly weaker than the downstream estimate. Estimates are also significant within the medium- and high-income groups, although full-sample interaction tests do not establish differences across economic development tiers. Because policy placement is not fully random and time-varying unobservables cannot be completely ruled out, the findings should be interpreted as conditional on the maintained identification assumptions. Policy recommendations, therefore, emphasize basin-specific targeting, stronger implementation capacity in weaker areas, cross-regional coordination, and expansion rules that weigh fiscal capacity, opportunity and transition costs, and marginal benefits. Full article

Against the dual backdrop of global ocean governance and food security, promoting the coordinated development of marine economic green development efficiency and inclusive growth is of significant practical importance for countries to improve marine ecology, narrow the wealth gap, and safeguard blue granary security. This study takes China’s three major marine economic circles and 11 coastal provinces from 2002 to 2024 as research subjects, employing methods including the Super-efficiency SBM model, the CRITIC-TOPSIS, Haken model, kernel density estimation, the Dagum Gini coefficient, and the ARIMA time series model to measure the spatiotemporal evolution of the synergy between marine economic green development efficiency and inclusive growth, as well as to forecast future trends. The results indicate that (1) the synergy level of the three major marine economic circles has been continuously increasing, with the full coastal zone’s synergy level rising from 0.48 in 2002 to 0.81 in 2024, with inclusive growth playing a dominant role throughout the period; (2) the synergy level of all Chinese provinces has been continuously improving with narrowing disparities—the Gini coefficient declined from 0.252 to 0.072, and the hypervariable density contributed an annual average of 47.22%; and (3) forecasts show that, from 2025 to 2029, the full coastal zone’s synergy level will rise from 0.82 to 0.84, with all economic circles showing an upward trend. The findings of this study can provide references for global coastal economies in formulating marine green sustainable development policies. Full article

This paper examines the concept of green growth within the G7 countries, particularly the connections between energy transition, green innovation, financial inclusion, and the circular economy. The analysis of the data using the CS-ARDL model reveals strong long-term and short-term relationships between these variables and green growth. It is demonstrated that energy transition, measured by the Energy Transition Index (ETI), positively affects green growth, as the coefficient of energy transition in the long run is positive, 0.45, which explains the need to adopt renewable energy sources. Green innovation (based on environmental patents) has a positive contribution as well (coefficient = 0.28), which highlights its contribution towards sustainable economic development. The significance of financial inclusion comes out, and its coefficient is positive and significant, 0.40, in the long run, indicating the importance of financial access in facilitating green investments. Conversely, the negative correlation that was found between carbon intensity and green growth indicates that going low on emissions per unit of GDP is an essential component of a sustainable process (coefficient = −0.20). Green growth is augmented by the interaction of the practice of the circular economy and financial inclusion (long-run 0.12). These results highlight the importance of combined policies that can facilitate energy transformation, innovation, financial inclusion, and the strategy of the circular economy to attain sustainable growth in G7 countries. Full article

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is the world’s second-most cultivated vegetable. Production reached 192 million tonnes in 2023; approximately 23% is industrially processed, leaving 4.3 to 10.2 million tonnes of pomace each year. Despite its high content of lycopene, tocopherols, polyphenols, dietary fibre, and seed oil, most of this residue is composted, landfilled, or fed without prior processing. This narrative review examines how the chemistry of tomato by-products maps onto their effects in farm animals, and how green-extraction biorefinery fits within the European Green Deal. Reported pomace lycopene runs from 36.7 to 50.2 mg/100 g DM, with phenolics near 161.8 mg GAE/g. Lycopene is an efficient singlet-oxygen quencher; it activates Keap1–Nrf2–ARE signaling while dampening NF-κB. Supercritical CO₂, ultrasound, microwave, pressurized-liquid, and NADES extractions can now recover up to 91% of peel lycopene using green, food-grade solvents. In broilers, 5 to 10% pomace or 30 to 400 mg/kg purified lycopene improves antioxidant status and lessens heat stress; in dairy ruminants, ensiled pomace at 10 to 40% maintains milk yield while improving milk PUFA. In finishing pigs and rabbits, dietary pomace or lycopene improves tissue oxidative stability, with growth benefits reported in heat-stressed rabbits. Standardized bioactive reporting and clearer inclusion limits remain the main research priorities. Full article

Severe food insecurity, the level of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale at which people go an entire day without eating, remains above pre-pandemic levels: in 2024, 673 million people (8.2% of the global population) faced hunger and 2.3 billion experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. We examine whether progress in green growth is associated with reductions in severe food insecurity, and over what horizon, using a balanced panel of 78 countries from 2010 to 2024. A dynamic autoregressive model with two-way fixed effects and Driscoll-Kraay standard errors introduces the four dimensions of the Global Green Growth Index (GGGI) as lagged predictors at one, two, and three years. Severe food insecurity is highly persistent: the autoregressive coefficient is 0.941, implying a half-life of at least 11.4 years, and a bias-corrected estimate of 0.970 suggests even greater inertia. Associations with green growth emerge with a delay: Green Economic Opportunities after two years, Efficient and Sustainable Resource Use after three years, while Natural Capital Protection displays a short-run adverse association that dissipates by the third year. Heterogeneity across income levels is confirmed formally, and the protective association of Social Inclusion is confined to low-income countries. Full article

This study examines whether the green transition alleviates or exacerbates poverty in developing countries, utilizing a dynamic panel dataset of 74 developing economies from 2000 to 2022. The paper investigates four key dimensions of the green transition: ecological footprints, green finance (proxied by public investment in renewable energy), renewable energy production, and renewable energy consumption. The findings reveal a compelling “green transition paradox”. While renewable energy production, green finance, and economic growth contribute significantly to poverty reduction, renewable energy consumption is adversely associated with higher poverty levels. This suggests that, in the absence of sufficient supply capacity and robust institutional support, the demand-side transition toward renewable energy may impose short-term economic burdens on vulnerable populations. Furthermore, ecological footprint exhibits a poverty-reducing effect, underscoring the reliance on resource-intensive economic expansion in developing economies, albeit with potential long-term environmental trade-offs. The results remain robust across alternative model specifications and exhibit heterogeneous across income and regional groups. The study contributes to the extant literature by disentangling the supply and demand mechanisms of renewable energy, thereby highlighting the complex distributional consequences of green transition policies. Ultimately, the policy implications emphasize the critical need to align renewable energy expansion with social protection, skill development, and inclusive financial frameworks to ensure that green transformation fosters both environmental sustainability and poverty alleviation. Full article

The systemic shift in the energy consumption structure from high-carbon fossil fuels to low-carbon clean energy constitutes a critical pathway toward global climate governance and carbon neutrality. However, this sustainable transition is consistently impeded by deep-seated institutional frictions and structural barriers, such as governance fragmentation and carbon lock-in effects embedded in traditional industrial organization. Whether digital government development can overcome these barriers by nurturing resilient business ecosystems and thereby promote a systemic low-carbon energy transition remains an urgent question within sustainable development research. To address this issue, this study integrates digital government development, regional e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness, and the low-carbon transition of the energy consumption structure into a unified analytical and sustainable governance framework. Using panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2012 to 2022, we exploit the institutional reform of provincial big data administrations as a quasi-natural experiment to identify the impacts of digital government. Regional e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness is comprehensively evaluated across four sustainable dimensions: ecological innovation capacity, market connectivity, ecological global integration, and inclusive infrastructure. Methodologically, we employ a spatial difference-in-differences model to capture geographic interdependencies alongside a double machine learning framework to handle high-dimensional confounding and nonlinear disturbances. The empirical findings reveal that both digital government development and regional e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness significantly drive the low-carbon transition of the energy consumption structure. The institutional effect of digital government exhibits strong regional embeddedness with localized impacts, whereas e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness generates positive spatial spillovers that accelerate energy optimization in neighboring regions. Crucially, regional e-commerce ecosystem competitiveness serves as a significant partial mediator, constructing a reliable transmission channel from institutional design to market-based decarbonization. Further pathway analysis indicates that market connectivity and inclusive infrastructure function as the primary transmission channels, effectively mitigating transportation energy intensity and bridging the digital-green divide, while the mediating contribution of ecological innovation capacity is relatively constrained due to cross-organizational coordination thresholds. This study clarifies the interactive mechanism between public digital governance and market ecosystem competitiveness in advancing environmental sustainability, thereby offering fresh theoretical insights and actionable policy implications for emerging market economies striving for economic growth and decarbonization. Full article

Urban public parks are vital for recreation, public health, environmental quality, and sustainable urban growth. Yet access to these parks remains uneven across many cities, disproportionately affecting low-income, marginalised, and spatially segregated communities. This study systematically examines socio-spatial disparities in park access and their implications for spatial justice. Using the PRISMA 2020 framework, 108 peer-reviewed articles published between 2000 and 2025 were analysed through thematic narrative synthesis. The results identify key factors shaping accessibility disparities, including socio-economic status, residential location, race and ethnicity, transport infrastructure, urban form, governance, and demographic vulnerability. The most common determinants were socio-economic status (24%), residential location and spatial distribution (20%), race and ethnicity (18%), and urban form and transport systems (17%). Limited park access exacerbates socio-economic inequality, worsens environmental injustice, contributes to health gaps, reinforces spatial segregation, hampers urban sustainability, and marginalises vulnerable populations. The review integrates Spatial Justice Theory, Environmental Justice Theory, and Urban Political Ecology into a comprehensive analytical framework and introduces a conceptual model linking accessibility factors to spatial justice outcomes. These findings underscore the importance of equitable green infrastructure planning, inclusive governance, and improved access in underserved urban areas. Full article

The realization of forest ecological product value has been promoted as an important pathway for reconciling ecological conservation with rural prosperity. However, it remains unclear whether the growth of forest ecological product value has been synchronized with improvements in farmers’ livelihoods. Using panel data from 31 Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2022, this study develops an integrated framework combining allometric growth analysis, a Bayesian hierarchical symbiotic coefficient model, a Lotka–Volterra interaction model, a multi-period difference-in-differences design and LightGBM-SHAP interpretation. The results show that 87% of provinces exhibit negative allometric growth, indicating that forest ecological product value has generally grown faster than farmers’ income. The national symbiotic coefficient increased before 2019 but declined thereafter, suggesting a weakening ecological-livelihood synergy. The multi-period DID results indicate that the 2017 Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Policy significantly weakened the symbiotic relationship in pilot provinces. LightGBM-SHAP further shows that financial development, technological progress and transportation infrastructure are key variables associated with symbiotic equilibrium, with substantial regional heterogeneity. These findings suggest that ecological product value realization and green finance do not automatically translate into inclusive livelihood benefits. More targeted benefit-sharing, financial transmission and farmer-participation mechanisms are needed to promote forest-based ecological prosperity. Full article

Two growth trials were conducted to evaluate the effects of solvent-extracted soybean meal (SBM), low-oligosaccharide soybean meal (LO-SBM), and enzyme-treated soybean meal (ET-SBM) on the growth performance, feed utilization, and gut microbiome of the Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei). Nine diets were tested, including a basal diet using solvent-extracted soybean meal as the main protein source. The solvent-extracted soybean meal was then replaced with LO-SBM or ET-SBM at 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% on an isonitrogenous and isolipidic basis. In the 8-week outdoor green water trial, all growth metrics, FCR and apparent net protein retention (ANPR) showed no significant differences among diets (p > 0.05). However, there was a significant effect of LO-SBM on phosphorus retention. In the clear water trial, intermediate inclusion levels of LO-SBM (60–80%) slightly improved growth metrics and phosphorus retention (p < 0.05) without affecting protein utilization, while 100% LO-SBM did not provide additional benefits. Diets with ET-SBM showed similar performance; however, phosphorus retention was reduced. Diets did not affect whole-body composition (p > 0.05), except for phosphorus and moisture. Gut microbiota analysis revealed that shrimp fed 100% ET-SBM had notably higher alpha diversity (Shannon index = 5.45, observed species = 326.41) compared to those fed 100% LO-SBM (Shannon index = 4.59, observed species = 242.69), indicating improved microbial stability with ET-SBM. Nonetheless, there were no significant differences in beta diversity or taxonomic composition between treatments (p > 0.05). This study demonstrates that incorporating 60–80% LO-SBM into the diet improves shrimp growth and nutrient utilization. Additionally, ET-SBM may also support shrimp growth, nutrient efficiency, and microbial diversity, suggesting that both LO-SBM and ET-SBM can be beneficial for shrimp nutrition. Full article

Sustainable development, challenged by the global climate crisis, environmental degradation, and income inequality, requires more than growth-oriented indicators. In this context, the impact of financial innovation (FinTech) on the economic, environmental, and social dimensions of sustainability in emerging economies has been debated. This study empirically identifies the multidimensional effects of FinTech on sustainability across 23 emerging economies from 2011 to 2023. Using 299 observations over a 13-year period, we apply the triple bottom line (TBL) framework. It also tests the moderating role of physical capital accumulation in the relationship between FinTech and economic sustainability using an economic model. Two-way fixed-effects models were constructed for economic, environmental, and social sustainability metrics. A FinTech index derived from Google Trends search frequencies related to artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and data technologies, validated through factor analysis and reliability tests, was used as the primary independent variable. To address the identified issues of heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional dependence, robust estimates were obtained using Driscoll and Kraay’s standard errors. The results indicate that FinTech does not have a statistically significant direct effect on economic or environmental sustainability. However, FinTech is positively associated with social sustainability, and its contribution to economic sustainability becomes significant when sufficient physical capital accumulation is supported. Interaction analysis revealed that the contribution of FinTech to economic sustainability is conditional. The marginal effect is negative at low levels of physical capital accumulation but turns positive as physical capital accumulation increases. The findings indicate that FinTech acts as a lever to strengthen inclusivity under SDGs 1 and 10; however, it does not automatically generate economic or ecological gains for SDGs 7, 9, and 13 unless it is integrated with physical infrastructure investments, green/ESG regulations, green credit quotas, and renewable energy strategies. Full article

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Prosperity Cluster (SDGs 7–11) represents a multidimensional framework linking economic growth, social inclusion, environmental sustainability, and resilient development. This review critically examines the interconnections among Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10), and Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11), with the aim of exploring how these goals collectively contribute to sustainable prosperity. Adopting a structured literature review methodology informed by PRISMA principles, the study synthesizes peer-reviewed and gray literature collected from major academic databases and institutional sources. The findings indicate that progress toward the prosperity-oriented SDGs remains uneven across regions due to disparities in governance quality, technological capacity, infrastructure development, and social inclusion. Renewable energy transitions, digital innovation, circular economy initiatives, green infrastructure, and sustainable urban planning emerge as critical drivers of long-term prosperity, while inequality, weak institutional coordination, inadequate human-capital investment, and uneven access to technology remain major barriers. The review further demonstrates that progress in one SDG strongly influences outcomes in others, emphasizing the importance of integrated and policy-coherent approaches rather than isolated sectoral actions. Conceptually, the paper advances the understanding of the “Prosperity Cluster” by positioning dynamism, equity, and environmental stewardship as mutually reinforcing dimensions of sustainable development. The study concludes that achieving sustainable prosperity requires governance systems capable of balancing economic competitiveness with environmental responsibility and social justice. Greater international cooperation, inclusive policymaking, and investment in resilient infrastructure and human capital are essential to ensure that prosperity benefits present and future generations without leaving vulnerable populations behind. Full article

Against the backdrop of global carbon neutrality, the cross-regional allocation of green electricity is pivotal for energy transition, yet its impact on inclusive economic growth and regional equity remains contentious. This study addresses the spatial welfare mismatch arising from large-scale power transmission in China. Utilizing provincial panel data from 2006 to 2022 and employing the staggered rollout of Ultra-High Voltage (UHV) lines as a quasi-natural experiment, we apply advanced econometric models, including CS-DID and Bartik instrumental variables, to identify causal effects. Empirical results reveal an asymmetric “cost-benefit separation” effect: while green electricity imports significantly bolster high-quality development (HQD) in eastern recipient regions, exports exert a drag on western provinces by triggering capital outflow, profit deprivation, and ecological load. Consequently, regional HQD gaps exhibit divergence rather than convergence. However, we find that fiscal ecological compensation acts as a critical moderating buffer, effectively reversing this trend and driving conditional convergence and sustainable regional development. Heterogeneity analysis further indicates that market-oriented electricity reforms and “East Data, West Computing” infrastructure mitigate these negative externalities. These findings underscore the necessity of shifting from a purely engineering-focused transmission model to an institutional framework centered on energy justice, offering actionable insights for achieving SDG 7 and SDG 10 synergies. Full article