Search Results (67)

Ecosystem services—the benefits humans derive from nature—are foundational to environmental sustainability and economic well-being, with carbon sequestration and storage standing out as critical regulating services in the fight against climate change. This study presents a comprehensive financial valuation of the carbon sequestration, storage and product substitution ecosystem services provided by the Hungarian forest-based sector. Using a multi-scenario framework, four complementary valuation concepts are assessed: total carbon storage (biomass, soil, and harvested wood products), annual net sequestration, emissions avoided through material and energy substitution, and marketable carbon value under voluntary carbon market (VCM) and EU Carbon Removal Certification Framework (CRCF) mechanisms. Data sources include the National Forestry Database, the Hungarian Greenhouse Gas Inventory, and national estimates on substitution effects and soil carbon stocks. The total carbon stock of Hungarian forests is estimated at 1289 million tons of CO₂ eq, corresponding to a theoretical climate liability value of over EUR 64 billion. Annual sequestration is valued at approximately 380 million EUR/year, while avoided emissions contribute an additional 453 million EUR/year in mitigation benefits. A comparative analysis of two mutually exclusive crediting strategies—improved forest management projects (IFMs) avoiding final harvesting versus long-term carbon storage through the use of harvested wood products—reveals that intensified harvesting for durable wood use offers higher revenue potential (up to 90 million EUR/year) than non-harvesting IFM scenarios. These findings highlight the dual role of forests as both carbon sinks and sources of climate-smart materials and call for policy frameworks that integrate substitution benefits and long-term storage opportunities in support of effective climate and bioeconomy strategies. Full article

This study examines the causal and dynamic effects of carbon information disclosure on firm value, using a policy-driven setting in China’s carbon-intensive industries. In 2018, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment implemented a regulatory policy requiring internal carbon accounting and third-party verification for carbon-intensive enterprises, without mandating public disclosure. This exogenous policy shock offers a quasi-natural experiment to investigate how firms in carbon-intensive industries respond to environmental mandates through voluntary disclosure and how such disclosure affects their market valuation. Employing a difference-in-differences framework combined with two-stage least squares estimation, we identify a significant increase in carbon information disclosure following the policy intervention. This disclosure leads to a positive and growing effect on firm value, particularly when sustained over multiple years. Moreover, the valuation effect is moderated by regional environmental regulation: firms in areas with lower enforcement intensity benefit more from disclosure, as the signal is perceived to be more voluntary and credible. These findings provide robust causal evidence on the role of carbon information disclosure in shaping market outcomes under regulatory pressure. The study contributes to the literature on environmental regulation and corporate financial behavior in emerging markets. Full article

Adequately incentivizing firms to implement green technological innovation (GTI) is pivotal to achieving sustainable development. Green factory certification, a prominent example of voluntary environmental regulation, has garnered significant attention in both theoretical and policy concerns regarding its impact on green technological innovation. Leveraging green factory certification as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper utilizes a multi-timepoint difference-in-differences (DID) approach to systematically investigate its influence on firms’ green technological innovation. The findings reveal several important insights. (1) Green factory certification significantly enhances firms’ green technological innovation capabilities, facilitating substantial enhancements in both the quantity and quality of green technological innovation. (2) Mechanism analysis indicates that green factory certification promotes green innovation via three key channels—promoting the digitalization level, strengthening ESG practices, and facilitating financing constraints. (3) The green innovation incentive effects of green factory certification are particularly pronounced among firms in the eastern region, non-state-owned entities, and those exhibiting lower pollution levels. These findings underscore the critical role of green certification systems in fostering corporate green development, offering both theoretical insights and practical guidance for firms undergoing green transformation while contributing to the broader goal of sustainable development. Full article

Voluntary environmental regulation is characterized by its non-compulsory nature, which gives enterprises the right to make their own choices. The wide application and high prevalence of the ISO14001 standard in China make it a representative and typical standard that can effectively reflect the degree of voluntary participation of enterprises in environmental management. Therefore, this paper uses whether enterprises have obtained this certification as a proxy measure of whether they have participated in voluntary environmental regulation for model construction. Enterprises that choose to participate indicate that they have higher self-imposed limits on environmental protection and have invested significant resources in reducing pollution and emissions. In order to investigate the willingness of enterprises to participate, a four-party evolutionary game model of “central government–enterprises–investors–consumers” was developed for theoretical analysis, followed by an empirical test using a numerical simulation method, aiming at identifying the key factors influencing the voluntary participation of enterprises. The study found that the central government’s active implementation is a key factor in promoting the active participation of enterprises in voluntary environmental regulation; investors’ green investment and consumers’ concern also play an important role, but the influence of consumers’ concern is relatively small and has a partial substitution effect with investors’ green investment; increasing central government rewards and boosting the amount of green investment by investors will effectively increase the speed and motivation of enterprises to participate. Full article

This study explores the crucial role of the banking industry in addressing climate change and promoting environmental sustainability. As climate change increasingly threatens global economies, ecosystems, and public health, financial experts recognize the potential for the banking sector to contribute to a low-carbon economy. By incorporating green-banking practices, which blend traditional financial services with environmental, social, and economic considerations, banks can foster sustainable development while reaping financial benefits. The research examines the dynamics of sustainable banking, focusing on its ability to drive efficiency improvements through eco-friendly programs and enhance profitability. Furthermore, the study discusses the challenges in adopting and implementing environmental sustainability, comparing the command-and-control regulatory model with voluntary approaches. The findings emphasize the importance of effective regulation and incentives for ensuring that banks adopt sustainable practices, ultimately contributing to a more resilient and low-carbon economic system. Through this analysis, this study underscores the banking industry′s pivotal role in shaping the transition towards a sustainable future. Full article

This study examines the mechanism of the digital economy on low-carbon trade competitiveness in China’s manufacturing sector using panel data from 30 provinces from 2011 to 2022, employing dynamic panel and moderated threshold model. The findings indicate that the digital economy significantly enhances manufacturing low-carbon trade competitiveness. Although green patents contribute to the overall effect, they do not serve as the primary indirect pathway through which the digital economy impacts manufacturing low-carbon trade competitiveness. Among these patents, utility model patents demonstrate the strongest mediating effect, followed by invention patents, design patents, and green invention patents, while green utility model patents show a weaker and non-significant effect. Furthermore, the digital economy facilitates a low-carbon transition in energy consumption structures, indirectly boosting manufacturing low-carbon trade competitiveness. This study also uncovers heterogeneous moderating effects of environmental regulations: market-based and voluntary regulations positively moderate the relationship, while command-and-control regulations show non-significant moderation. Environmental regulation exhibits a ‘U-shaped’ non-linear moderating effect, transitioning from non-significant negative moderation below a threshold to significant positive moderation beyond a critical value. Full article

The main objective of this article is to define the current legal and economic framework for conducting activities in the field of carbon farming and the carbon certificate system in Poland. The research was conducted using desk research, and the legal acts in force in the EU and in Poland, as well as planned ones, were analyzed. The statistical data from Eurostat, the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), Statistics Poland, and The Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARMA) were analyzed. In the European Union, agriculture is responsible for 11% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while in Poland, where the vast majority of these emissions are related to animal production, it is responsible for 8.5%. To ensure sustainable growth, it is necessary to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture. Work is underway in the EU to prepare legal regulations specifying the principles of carbon farming and introducing carbon certificates. The shape of this system is not yet precise, disputes within the EU bodies are related to the system of financing carbon farming, and certification principles. The presented assumptions raise great doubts among scientists. However, a voluntary certification system is in operation and starting to be used by Polish farmers. In Poland, from 2023, carbon farming is directly linked to the Strategic Plan for the Common Agricultural Policy, where PLN 2.78 billion has been allocated for the “Carbon farming and nutrient management” eco-scheme, which constitutes 64% of the funds for financing eco-schemes. The carbon farming system requires further strengthening and development. The most important factor was considered to be increasing the involvement of farmers, through appropriate financial incentives and increasing their knowledge. Further research directions should focus on long-term economic aspects in addition to environmental and technical aspects. Full article

Achieving the transformation from “growth at the expense of the environment” to “growth through environmental protection” is an essential path for developing countries to promote sustainable economic and social development. This paper utilizes the staggered difference-in-differences model to empirically test the impact of the “Green Factory” policy under China’s green manufacturing system on corporate sustainable development performance in a large sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2023. The findings show that the level of corporate sustainable development performance significantly improves after being certified as a “Green Factory”. After a series of robustness tests such as the parallel trend test, placebo test, and heterogeneous treatment effects test, the promoting effect remains significant. This association is stronger among non-state-owned enterprises, enterprises in high-polluting industries, as well as enterprises with higher environmental information transparency. The mechanism tests reveal that participating in the “Green Factory” project enhance corporate sustainable development performance by attracting more green investors and promoting corporate green innovation. Overall, this paper provides micro-level empirical evidence for the driving factors of corporate sustainable development and offers policy evaluation and practical insights for the implementation of green manufacturing system and voluntary environmental regulation policies. Full article

New-generation disposable e-cigarettes have become increasingly popular among young adults in the USA since the FDA’s partial flavor ban. This study aims to examine longitudinal changes in health risks among young adults who adopted these novel products, as well as the health effects of device types beyond the effects of other important e-cigarette characteristics. This study recruited e-cigarette users via voluntary response sampling from three college campuses in the USA to respond to four-wave online surveys conducted in four consecutive semesters. Among the participants who adopted disposables during the study, their health risks (dependence symptoms, respiratory symptoms, combustible tobacco use) and e-cigarette consumption characteristics (use frequency, nicotine concentration and flavors) before and after the adoption were compared using paired-sample t- or McNemar’s tests. Generalized linear mixed models with a random intercept were conducted on data from the entire sample to investigate the effects of device type (tank, cartridge/pod, disposable) on health risks, controlling for other e-cigarette consumption characteristics. The study sample of 650 e-cigarette users were, on average, 20 years old, with 49% being male, 70% being White, and 13% being Hispanic. Adopting disposables may increase secondary dependence motives (t = 2.42, p < 0.05) and the use of higher levels of nicotine concentration (t = 2.09, p < 0.05) and sweet flavors (x² = 22.53, p < 0.05) but decrease the number of times of vaping per day (t = −2.18, p < 0.05) and the use of menthol flavors (x² = 4.57, p < 0.05). Tank use is associated with a higher level of primary dependence motives (b = 0.1998, p < 0.05) and a greater odds of using combustible tobacco (b = 0.4772, p < 0.05). Although disposable use is not associated with the likelihood of using combustible tobacco, it is associated with higher levels of both primary (b = 0.2158, p < 0.05) and secondary (b = 0.2533, p < 0.05) dependence motives. It is not the device type, but rather the frequency of vaping, that affects respiratory symptoms (b = 0.0602, p < 0.05). The findings indicate that when young adults switch to disposables, their e-cigarette dependence and use of sweet-flavored e-liquids increase. Even after controlling for use frequency, nicotine concentration and flavors, using disposables is related to not only instrumental motives that are influenced by psychological and environmental contexts but also heavy, automatic use that can operate without environmental cues. Given the health risks associated with disposable e-cigarettes, more comprehensive tobacco product regulations that consider the impact of device types may be needed. Full article

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards have received widespread attention in the quest for sustainable development. However, a comprehensive understanding of the current status of ESG standards, particularly in the context of China, remains a scientific gap. This study bridges this gap by adopting a bibliometric analysis to comprehensively analyze the current status of ESG standards. Based on an analysis of 213 articles involving ESG standards in the Web of Science Core Collection database from 2015 to 2024, this study identified the global distribution of ESG standards organizations, research hotspots, trends, and cutting-edge status of ESG standards research. It was found that the research on ESG standards shows a growing trend: the research hotspots mainly focus on the areas of performance, rating, investment, and sustainability. Crucially, this study offers novel insights into the current development status of ESG standards in China, emphasizing the significant roles of the government’s promotion of ESG standard formulation and regulation, corporate voluntary compliance, and academic research and communication. Future research directions on ESG standards are proposed and imply that the implementation of ESG standards in China should be beneficial to sustainable development. Full article

Improving agricultural green total factor productivity (AGTFP) is the key to achieving sustainable agricultural development and empowering agricultural modernization. Based on the panel data of 30 provincial levels in China from 2011 to 2021, AGTFP is measured using the non-expected MinDS super-efficiency—MetaFrontier Malmquist model, and the impact of environmental regulation (ER) and digital finance on AGTFP is analyzed using the spatial Durbin model (SDM). The results show the following: (1) ER can increase local AGTFP and has a positive spatial spillover effect. Command-based ER has the highest impact on AGTFP, followed by market-incentive and public-voluntary ER. (2) Digital finance has a direct promotional effect on local AGTFP, while it has an inhibitory effect on AGTFP in neighboring regions due to the siphon effect. (3) Digital finance is an important regulatory variable affecting AGTFP concerning command-based, market-incentive and public-voluntary ER. Digital finance plays a significantly moderating role in the effectiveness of the three ERs on AGTFP, with the market-incentive ER being the highest in eastern China. Nonetheless, digital finance has a significantly moderating effect on the effectiveness of command-based and public-voluntary ER on AGTFP, with command-based ER being higher in central China. Meanwhile, digital finance only plays a significantly moderating role in the effectiveness of command-based environment regulation on AGTFP in western China. This study provides valuable reference for policymakers concerning agriculture green production in varied regions. Full article

Faced with the dual challenges of environmental pollution and climate change, it is of great significance to study the impact of relevant environmental regulations on the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon emission reduction and their influence mechanisms. Based on a theoretical analysis using the panel data of 30 provinces in China, a spatial econometric model and an intermediary effect model are used to investigate the impact of environmental regulations on the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction and the transmission mechanisms potentially responsible for these effects. The empirical results show the following: (1) The three kinds of environmental regulation effectively facilitate the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, taking the following order when ranked according to the intensity of their effects: command-type environmental regulation (ER1) > market-based environmental regulation (ER2) > voluntary environmental regulation (ER3). (2) Environmental regulation effectively promotes the synergistic effect of pollution and carbon reduction through the three transmission mechanisms of stimulating technological innovation (TI), industrial structure upgrading (ISU), and restricting foreign direct investment (FDI), which take the following effectiveness order: TI > FDI > ISU. Based on the results of the study, policy suggestions to facilitate pollution reduction and carbon synergies are proposed to help China’s green and low-carbon development. Full article

In the European Union, greenhouse gas emissions statistics indicate only a slight decreasing trend over the last number of years in emissions from agricultural sources. Unless drastic action is taken in other sectors, the European Union’s 2030 and subsequent climate targets are unlikely to be met without greater reductions made in agricultural emissions. The policy instruments aimed at reducing agricultural emissions that are currently in place have proven to be ineffective; therefore, there is a need to look for new approaches towards bringing agricultural emissions down faster and farther. One obvious new approach is to integrate agricultural emissions into the European Union Emissions Trading System, which, so far, has proven very successful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy and industrial sectors. Hardly any attention has been paid in the scholarly legal literature to the question of integrating agricultural GHG emissions into emission trading systems. This article seeks to fill this gap. This paper presents the concluding findings of a Dutch Research Council-funded research project that aimed to assess whether and under what conditions the European Union Emissions Trading System could play a role in compelling the agricultural sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. We answered this question by looking at lessons learned from existing examples in the world of market-based approaches to integrating agriculture into emission reduction schemes. To do this, we performed an ex-post assessment of three of the very few examples that exist in the world of such schemes in Canada, California, and Australia, followed by an ex-ante assessment of the prospect of including agricultural emissions under the European Union Emissions Trading System based on the practical experiences of those examples. In the ex-ante study, we evaluated how such inclusion could work, either indirectly, through allowing on-farm offset programs to reward increased carbon sequestration, or directly, by requiring farmers and/or other actors in the agricultural sector to surrender allowances for their direct emissions. As lawyers, we focused mainly on the legal considerations of such a proposition. Having conducted both the ex-ante and ex-post assessments, we conclude that introducing stricter legal instruments of one form or another that will reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon removal on agricultural land seems necessary for the European Union if it is serious about achieving its commitments under the Paris Agreement and meeting its obligations under its own Climate Law. The project makes a novel contribution to the legal scholarship in concluding that the most viable starting point for such stricter legislation would be to include methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock keeping and synthetic fertilizer use, respectively, under the European Union Emissions Trading System. To start with, this could be conducted by obliging meat and dairy processors and synthetic fertilizer producers to surrender allowances for the on-farm emissions associated with their products. This could be complemented by introducing a voluntary, but still highly regulated, carbon credits scheme that could encourage and reward farmers for reducing their own emissions and for transitioning to net-zero, and overall, more climate-resilient and environmentally friendly farming practices. Such credits could be offered for sale on the private carbon market as well as to Member State governments and the European Commission (through, for example, the Common Agricultural Policy, State Aid schemes, or the Innovation Fund). Full article

Improving industrial water green use efficiency (IWGUE) is a primary means to ensure the production, living, and ecological use of water quantity and quality, while effective environmental regulation tools are important to promote efficiency. This paper calculates the industrial water green use efficiency in China’s 30 provinces from 2010 to 2022 by the SE-SBM model and divides environmental regulatory tools into command-based, market-oriented, and voluntary types. The panel Tobit model is constructed to test the impact and differences in the effects of three environmental regulations on regional industrial water green use efficiency. The results show the following: (1) Under the constraint of undesired output, IWGUE fluctuates upward slowly in China, and the potential for improving the efficiency value is enormous, with significant regional and basin-level differences. (2) At the national level, the impact of command-based and market-oriented environmental regulations on IWGUE shows a U-shaped trend, while the positive promoting effect of voluntary environmental regulations on efficiency is not significant. (3) In the Yellow River Basin, the impact of three types of environmental regulations on IWGUE shows a U-shaped pattern. Command-based and voluntary environmental regulations have crossed the inflection point and have a significant promoting effect on efficiency, while market-oriented environmental regulations have not yet crossed the inflection point. (4) In the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the impact of command-based and market-oriented environmental regulations on IWGUE shows a U-shaped pattern, while voluntary environmental regulations have a significant promoting effect on efficiency. This study may provide a reference for tailored policy design to improve industrial water efficiency in China from the perspective of environmental regulations. Full article

In Italy, the environmental sustainability of the agricultural sector is regulated by the National Integrated Production Quality System. It is the foundation of the regional Integrated Production Regulations (IPRs), which identify voluntary agronomic strategies on the use of pesticides, fertilisers, and irrigation water, as well as on soil and plant management. The aim is a reduction in the environmental impacts of the agricultural processes and an increase in the production quality. However, the direct relationship between environmental and economic sustainability of the regional IPRs is not obvious and its absence could weaken the economic efficiency of firms. The study, through the stochastic frontier (SF) method, investigates the possible inefficiencies of the regional winegrowing firms that voluntarily adhere to the Apulian IPRs. The results highlight that some measures in the IPRs aimed at preserving the local agroecosystems (soil management and use of resistant varieties) are efficient, therefore allowing for an increase in the production value and quality. On the contrary, crucial measures concerning the management of irrigation water and pesticides decrease efficiency. Thus, more thoughtful measures are requested by policy makers to improve the economic impacts of the regional IPRs on firms and to make possible a certain convergence between environmental and economic sustainability. Full article