Issue #2 (Volume 15 2024)

Considering continuing environmental degradation linked to economic activity, it seems essential to examine the role companies can play in implementing sustainable development. This study aims to analyze lessons learned from standard theories on the effectiveness of corporate social and environmental responsibility. Indeed, corporate social responsibility and state intervention are frequently compared under the dual lens of collective well-being and environmental quality. For some economists, corporate social responsibility is preferable to state intervention from the point of view of maximizing collective well-being. By contrast, according to some other authors, state intervention is more effective for both maximizing well-being and protecting the environment. This literature review shows that corporate social responsibility is theoretically no more effective than public intervention in environmental protection: companies can be encouraged to commit themselves to protecting the environment under restrictive conditions, but this does not eliminate the essential importance of public intervention. Analysis of the assumptions of neoclassical models shows that, in reality, they do not take into account all the properties of a public good, i.e., all the properties of the climate and the environment. Finally, the conditions for implementing CSR are incompatible with maximizing collective well-being, which explains why public intervention is theoretically preferable to CSR.

Implementing eco-control is a strategic way for companies to prevent environmental damage. This paper aims to analyze the effect of perceived environmental uncertainty and stakeholder pressure on system implementation through environmentally oriented organizational culture as a mediating variable. This study utilizes the PLS-SEM model using a sample of 104 manufacturing companies in Indonesia; 197 respondents from those companies completed the survey. All variables used in the research model are significant for a formative measurement model, and an internal model applied met all criteria. This study confirms a negative relationship between perceptions of environmental uncertainty and environmentally oriented organizational culture (β = 0.174, p < 0.01). The opposite effect is shown by the relationship between stakeholder pressure and organizational culture (β = 0.379, p < 0.01), and the positive effect of organizational culture on the implementation of eco-control in companies is significant (β = 0.650, p < 0.01). In addition, organizational culture partially mediates the relationship between perceptions of environmental uncertainty and the implementation of the eco-control system (β = 0.317, p < 0.05) and between stakeholder pressure and the implementation of this system (β = 0.401, p < 0.05). When companies through managers face uncertainty from the ecological environment and stakeholder pressure, they should utilize an eco-control system, which can succeed in profit goals and environmental responsibility.

The government’s duty is to guarantee unimpeded access to food. Thus, relevant public policies, individual methods and tools, approaches, and strategic decisions are always the focus of attention of scientists, politicians, and government officials. Recognizing the critical importance of this imperative, this study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis that sheds light on the scientific landscape of strategic public administration of food security. The paper conducts a bibliometric analysis of scientific publications (using VosViewer – from 1990 to February 2024 using Scopus and WoS scientometric databases); monographs/textbooks (using Google Books and Ngram Viewer – for 1990–2019); and trend analysis (using Google Trends – from 2004 to February 2024).
The analysis showed an exponential increase in the number of publications since 2000, with peaks in 2008 (financial crisis), 2019–2020 (COVID-19), and 2023 (threat to food security due to military conflicts). The clustering of scientific papers by content showed that the most significant (red) cluster unites research that links food security to agricultural development, sustainable development, climate change, and water supply. The spatial clustering of scientific publications revealed that scientific leadership belongs to scientists from the United States and China. The largest research funders are Chinese scientific institutions. It also reflected regional differences in research focus. In particular, Italy, Switzerland, and France emphasize agricultural innovation and quality standards, while China and Australia focus on increasing yields and food storage technologies.

The maritime industry faces intense scrutiny to address climate change amidst strict environmental regulations and societal expectations. The paper mainly focuses on understanding and evaluating the key factors driving the transition toward decarbonization in shipping. The study utilized qualitative analysis, focusing on reviewing current environmental targets set by major regulatory bodies, notably the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the European Union (EU).
The study concludes that a clear strategy for reducing emissions is essential, and a holistic approach must be adopted. Thus, the investigation identified several critical factors that can facilitate the creation of an effective strategy to achieve net zero emissions, comply with regulatory goals, and reduce current emissions. They are decarbonization levels (solutions), ecosystem (value chain), and drivers (enablers), collectively referred to as the decarbonization LED model.
The study emphasizes the importance of stakeholder engagement and policy advocacy to support zero-emission transition. For instance, the paper explores the sector’s decarbonization potential through a value chain perspective (Scope 3): employing the life-cycle approach to assess the complete environmental footprint of ship – “Cradle-to-Grave” frameworks (from raw material extraction, production, and product use, until the end of its life) and “Well-to-Wake” methodology to evaluate greenhouse gas emissions from fuel production to end-use by a ship. Additionally, the paper assesses the potential impacts of environmental regulations in the maritime sector, predicting significant transformations in the industry’s operational, technological, and collaborative practices.

Acknowledgment
This study was partially supported by the SEUS project – Horizon Europe Framework Programme (HORIZON), under grant agreement No 101096224. This article reflects only the authors’ views, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

Environmental degradation can lead to climate change, air and water quality degradation, and biodiversity loss. The study aims to assess the impact of illegal oil extraction on environmental, social, economic, and public health dimensions in Peurelak, East Aceh, Indonesia. Using proportional random sampling techniques, 245 respondents were selected, representing owners and investors (9), tenant investors (18), workers/laborers (68), melters (6), public figures/community leaders (3), the community (138), and village government officials (3). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with AMOS software. The results revealed a significant negative effect of illegal oil mining on social, environmental, and health performance (p-values = 0.031, 0.029, and 0.010, respectively, at a 95% confidence level). Additionally, informal leadership and government support were found to positively influence illegal oil mining (p-values = .017 and .035, respectively, below the significance threshold of .05). Furthermore, illegal oil mining significantly affects economic performance (p-value = .021). This paper emphasizes the adverse impacts of unauthorized oil extraction on community well-being while highlighting the collusive role of informal leaders and government authorities. Additionally, the study reveals a worrisome positive relationship between illegal oil mining and economic performance in Indonesia.

Conservation of forest resources is a prerequisite for sustainable development of human society, both in the context of preventing negative climate change and for economic growth. The study aims to establish or refute the co-dependence between the level of forest cover in European countries and the production of gross domestic product. The study object is the socio-economic systems of the national economies of European countries in relation to the totality of forest resources of the continent. Studying the dynamics of forest cover indicators (the share of forests in the total area of the country and forest area per capita), weighted within the internationally recognized regions of Europe, it is confirmed that the level of forest cover of European countries is gradually increasing. The analysis of forest fire area maps identifies three main groups by the level of vulnerability to forest fires: safe (Northern European countries), conditionally safe (Western European countries), and dangerous (Eastern and Southern European countries).
Denmark, Finland, France, Norway, and Finland show a direct correlation between the level of forest cover of a country’s territory and gross domestic product. The results of cluster analyses based on the data from 2000, 2010, 2015, and 2020 confirm the existence of a stable cluster of European countries (34 countries) in which there is one type of relationship between the production of gross domestic product and the level of forest cover of the territory.

Acknowledgment
This study was funded by the grant support from the Philipp Schwarz Initiative of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Despite numerous studies on the impacts of climate change in developing economies, scarce research focuses on these spatial effects in the internal regions of these countries. To shed light on this concern, this study aims to analyze the spatial effect of climate change on regional economic disparities in the context of Benin. The secondary data are extracted from the World Bank’s Climate Knowledge Portal and a Beninese local finance database covering the period from 2010 to 2019. A random-effects panel model and a dynamic spatial Durbin model of endogenous growth are used. The results reveal that, in the absence of spatial effects, average temperature reinforces economic disparities by 4.4 points within regions. A one-point increase in precipitation increases economic disparities by 0.001 points. The spatial model reveals both short- and long-term positive spatial externalities. Thus, a one-point positive variation in precipitation in neighboring regions leads to a 0.005% increase in a given region’s own revenue per capita. Similarly, a one-point increase in precipitation in a given region induces a 0.004% rise in own revenues in neighboring regions. Damage caused by climate change in one area encourages positive economic dynamics in neighboring areas. These spatial interactions reinforce economic differences and maintain economic disparities between Benin’s regions.

As urgent actions are required to accelerate the transition to a more environmentally friendly energy sector and global economy, the rising geopolitical risks defined as any tensions that disrupt the peace of local and international relations pose greater uncertainty to the rapid renewable energy deployment in supporting the carbon-neutrality ambitions. Thus, this paper investigates the influence of geopolitical risks on renewable energy consumption in OECD countries over the period 1970–2022 to address potential estimation biases from ignoring recent events such as COVID-19 and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The paper applies a system GMM to a cross-country panel dataset while controlling for per capita income, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, economic globalization, and natural resource rents to deal with all possible sources of endogeneity. The results show that geopolitical risks reduce the consumption of renewable energy, with a magnitude of 0.22 percentage points. In addition, CO2 emissions and natural resource rents adversely affect the amount of renewable energy consumption. However, economic growth and globalization promote the demand for renewable energy. Therefore, the empirical findings suggest that geopolitical risks play a crucial role in the consumption of renewable energy.

Acknowledgement
The financial support from Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) under the project EP/T022930/1 is gratefully acknowledged. Authors would like to thank Prof. David Reiner and the Editor for their constructive comments and suggestions.

This study considers the impacts of financial development and the consumption of renewable energy in Lebanon for the period 1990–2021, employing the Environmental Kuznets Curve. The financial sector in Lebanon is considered a major engine in the economic development. Green energy sources and environmental protection are taking higher importance nowadays with the increase of implications for climate change and global warming worldwide. This paper examines the Environmental Kuznets Curve’s presence and implications for Lebanon’s financial development and renewable energy consumption. The econometric model used annual data from the World Development Indicators. Utilizing the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique, both near- and long-term relationships were estimated. The findings support the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis and show that energy consumption and real income have a statistically significant beneficial effect on carbon emissions and that their square has a statistically significant negative impact on carbon emissions over the long and short term. The results show variations in signs for financial development between the short and long term and stable results for renewable energy with negative signs in both terms. These results show the importance of further research on the influence of financial development and green energy consumption on EKC. Therefore, policymakers need to pay more attention to these variables for a sustainable economy that is facing the effects of climate change.

The challenges of global warming, resource depletion, and environmental protection require immediate action from corporations, governments, and communities globally. Implementing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) measures represents a key strategy for corporations in addressing sustainability concerns. This study investigates how the ESG performance of publicly listed companies in China is influenced by employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Utilizing a dataset covering 4,464 publicly listed Chinese corporations from 2009 to 2022, this analysis employs fixed-effects regressions to reveal the beneficial impact of ESOPs on corporate ESG ratings. A firm’s transition from non-ESOP to ESOP status raises ESG ratings by 1.213, representing 22% of the ESG score’s standard deviation. The findings indicate that greater involvement of the top management team in an ESOP weakens the positive impact of the ESOP on corporate ESG performance. The positive impact of ESOPs on ESG performance is insignificant in the agriculture sector but more pronounced in the manufacturing and service sectors, where the transition to ESOP status results in ESG score increases of 1.122 and 1.500, respectively. The issue of endogeneity is addressed by utilizing a lagged ESOP independent variable and applying two-stage least squares regression with the average ESOP serving as the instrumental variable. The findings confirm that causality runs from ESOP to ESG rather than ESG influencing ESOP.

Acknowledgment
This study was supported by the Department of Education of Zhejiang Province – General Program (Y202249981, Y202353438), the Wenzhou Association for Science and Technology – Service and Technology Innovation Program (jczc0254), the Wenzhou-Kean University Student Partnering with Faculty Research Program (WKUSPF202404, WKUSPF202411), the Wenzhou-Kean University International Collaborative Research Program (ICRP2023002, ICRP2023004), and the Wenzhou-Kean University Internal Research Support Program (IRSPG202205, IRSPG202206).

The paper aims to identify factors affecting sustainable ecotourism in Vietnam, including the mediating role of tourist satisfaction and attractive destinations. The valid quantitative data were collected from a survey of 515 domestic tourists who have traveled to ecotourism areas in 5 selected areas in Vietnam, including Ca Mau Province, Can Tho City, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Dinh Province, and Dong Nai Province. To test research hypotheses, data were analyzed using AMOS 24.0 and structural equation modeling (SEM). Research results show that tourist satisfaction strongly affects sustainable ecotourism (β = 0.341), followed by attractive destinations (β = 0.175) and environmental awareness (β = 0.147). In contrast, tourism management policy does not affect sustainable ecotourism. Besides, tourism management policy has the strongest influence on attractive destinations (β = 0.393), followed by the natural environment (β = 0.129), culture and society (β = 0.082), but infrastructure does not affect attractive destinations. Research results also show that the strongest influential determinant of tourist satisfaction is infrastructure (β = 0.448), followed by culture and society (β = 0.180), the natural environment (β = 0.150), and tourism management policy (β = 0.136).

This study aims to track the EU’s shift from fuel dependence to sustainable mobility, assessing current impacts and future efforts for low- and zero-emission vehicles and renewable fuels to reduce crude hydrocarbon imports and greenhouse gas emissions. The paper uses methods of composite indices of fuel dependence and greenhouse gas emission intensity, decomposition analysis for crude hydrocarbon imports and greenhouse gas emissions, and the causal relationship between transport traffic and sustainable mobility objectives. Empirical results indicate that deploying sustainable mobility in the EU saved 10 million tons of crude oil imports and prevented 49 million tCO2eq emissions. Advancements in sustainable mobility were more effective in curbing greenhouse gas emissions (4.7%) than in reducing crude hydrocarbon imports (1.9%) from 2013 to 2022. Projections for the EU’s 2025 objectives indicate significant efforts needed to avoid an extra 61 million tCO2eq, including adding over 13 million zero-emission transport units and producing about 2 million tons of sustainable fuel. Both targets are currently at risk. The study highlights the latent potential in other hydrocarbons that can be transformed from non-fossil energy sources. Therefore, monitoring the impact of sustainable mobility is a crucial task in reducing fuel dependence and greenhouse gas emissions from transport. It enables informed decisions and strategy adaptations and ensures that environmental and economic targets are met both timely and effectively.

Acknowledgment
This article is funded by the National Research Foundation of Ukraine within the framework of Creation of the Production of Synthetic Liquid Fuel from Coal in Ukraine in the War and Post-War Periods project (registration number 2022.01/0061) implemented within Science for the Reconstruction of Ukraine in the War and Post-War Periods competition.

This study investigates the impact of biomass energy consumption, agricultural value added, raw material productivity, and gross domestic product growth rate on Vietnam’s environmental quality within the framework of the load capacity curve hypothesis over the period from 1986 to 2021. The analysis employs ARDL estimation and Granger causality tests to examine correlations. The results proved that agricultural value added and biomass energy are critical long-term drivers of environmental quality in Vietnam. The long-term estimation results suggest that a 1% increase in biomass energy consumption contributes to a marginal increase of 0.82% in the load capacity factor. In addition, agricultural value added appears to have a significant diminishing effect on the load capacity factor in Vietnam (an increase of 1% in agriculture value added versus a reduction of the load capacity factor by 2.28%). The study unveils a bidirectional relationship between biomass energy consumption and load capacity factor. These findings suggest that in Vietnam, biomass energy consumption improves environmental quality. In turn, improved environmental quality will promote biomass energy consumption.

Providing people with access to sustainable energy and overcoming energy poverty are essential tasks of the energy transition to a climate-neutral economy. The paper aims to examine the financial measures to alleviate energy poverty in Ukraine, such as the provision of energy subsidies and the financing of local programs to improve the energy efficiency of buildings through the Energy Efficiency Fund. Using statistical data of the International Energy Agency, Eurostat, the Ministry of Energy of Ukraine, and the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the paper analyzes the state of energy poverty in Ukraine compared to EU countries. In the context of Ukraine’s intensifying energy and economic crises, the assessment of the fiscal cost of energy subsidies reflects a significant increase in an additional burden on the state budget. The fiscal cost of subsidies was assessed using the price-gap approach. The paper presents the results of energy modernization of buildings in Ukraine through the Energy Efficiency Fund. Implementation of energy modernization projects for buildings reduces energy costs and СО2 emissions, increases housing energy efficiency, and expands the possibilities of overcoming energy poverty. The application of the cost-benefit analysis method to sustainable housing renovation projects is demonstrated to more accurately assess energy and carbon impacts and to obtain financial support. The formulated proposals aim to raise awareness of power structures and support informed decision-making to overcome energy poverty and build a sustainable energy future for Ukraine.

Acknowledgment
This article presents the results of a study conducted as part of the scientific project “Formation of the foundations of nationally rooted stability and security of the economic development of Ukraine in the conditions of the hybrid “peace-war” system” (state registration number 0123U100965).