Issue #1 (Volume 11 2020)

The basis for sustainable and environmentally friendly development is gradually becoming aware of the importance of working more ethically and transparently and in a more humanistic way, as well as addressing the needs of people and society. In this case, the key challenge for higher education institutions (HEIs) is to train the conscious and responsible citizens who can take care of the country’s future. This article focuses on comparing the ability of HEIs in Poland and Ukraine to promote sustainable development (SD) by implementing the concept of social responsibility (SR). The research is based on the methods of statistical analysis, sociological survey, case study, abstract-logical, tabular and graphical method. The paper argues that HEIs have a wide range of tools to promote SD. These tools should be divided into three groups, namely: 1) including SD issues in educational programs; 2) developing knowledge and solutions for SD; 3) creation and participation in SR initiatives. The proposed mechanism of the impact of HEIs on SD through the implementation of the concept of SR will allow HEIs to take an active part in the life of the region and the country, namely: identify the needs, engage the stakeholders, facilitate the interaction, disseminate the effective practices, and develop SD strategies. The practical value of the obtained results is that the implementation of SR initiative by HEIs will promote the environmentally friendly development of the country and regions. As a result, it will increase the impact of HEIs on economic, technology and cultural development, human capital formation, solving social problems, building civil society, improving the environmental status.

The paper proposes a new approach for dealing with uncertainties in determining the level of sustainability at the national scale. Composite Sustainable Development Index (SDI) is a tool designed to assess comprehensively the progress made by 15 advanced economies and 15 emerging economies since 2004–2018 towards achieving sustainable development goals.
The proposed composite index aims to measure and monitor a sustainable development at the national level, and to increase the understanding of sustainability.
This method also sheds light on main problems of different economies at the current stage of their development: the methodology considers a set of indicators and arranged into four categories of sustainable development: economy, society, governance, and environment.
The present study shows that during the analyzed period, advanced economies had a satisfactory level of sustainability, while the level of SDI of the emerging markets was lower. Also, the obtained results reveal that since the adoption of Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015 developed countries have been showing better performance.
Moreover, the paper presents the research design of an optimization model for sustainable development with CO2 emissions consideration.

The article examines the current issues of managing the effectiveness of eco-innovations and their impact on the “company-region-state” system using the example of waste management in Ukraine. The goal of the article is to justify the choice of an effective eco-innovation financing strategy, in which the most significant socio-economic effect is achieved for the investor. Systematization of literary sources and approaches to solving the problems of innovation management enables to determine an appropriate strategy to support resource-efficient activities in the region considering the economic efficiency of eco-innovations. The choice of mathematically sound management decisions in the system “company-region-state” should be made in respect with the consequences for the sustainable development of the region. The article presents the developed approach to calculating the sequence of investment in the management of eco-innovations using the example of solid waste management. The research methods are based on systematic approach, decision theory, and the Bellman dynamic equation. The system of innovations concerning solid waste management in the city of Sumy was profoundly studied. The research empirically confirms that the most effective strategy is to build a waste sorting station using a separate waste collection. The results of the study also substantiate that the implementation of solid waste separate collection in the city of Sumy currently requires a change in investment approach.

Acknowledgment
This research was prepared as a part of the scientific project “Modeling the Transfer of Eco-Innovations in the Enterprise-Region-State System: Impact on Ukraine’s Economic Growth and Security” (No. 0119U100364) and “Development of fundamental principles of reproduction mechanism of the social and economic development during the Third industrial revolution” (No. 0118U003578), which were financed by the state budget of Ukraine.

Environmental taxes and subsidies are considered by the economic theory as useful policy instruments to enhance environmental protection, improve the alignment of prices with full social costs, and encourage sustainable modes of consumption and production. In a policy-oriented perspective, the issue of reforming the financial system in an environmental perspective has attracted increasing attention to the international and European agenda in recent decades. Despite these premises, the actual implementation of environmental fiscal reforms (EFRs) has often lagged behind their full potential and premises. This paper analyzes environmental taxes and subsidies applied in Italy in the last decades to identify priorities, opportunities, and barriers to future developments. Data collected in the main national data sources and reports, as the recently established Catalogue of Environmentally Harmful Subsidies (EHSs) and environmentally friendly subsidies (EFSs), reveal how the implementation and design of taxes and subsidies have been, and still are, mainly driven by non-environmental objectives, leading to mixed and not completely satisfactory effects. In conclusion, relying on these results, some key elements – transparency, graduality, and predictability – may help to overcome the existing barriers to implement and achieve a broader and comprehensive EFR in Italy.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting is of high importance for firms that wish to communicate their environmental and social actions to stakeholders and society at large. Of course, the credibility of CSR reporting affects considerably the market reaction to the information provided. Although research on environmental and social reporting is important, empirical evidence regarding the relevance of environmental and social disclosure to firms’ market values is scarce. This paper specifically analyzes the moderating role of external CSR assurance on the relationship between voluntary environmental and social reporting and firm market value. A content analysis index is then developed based on disclosure items specified in the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. Using hand-collected data on a sample of French companies, the authors find that CSR assurance has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between high environmental and social reporting and firms’ market value, raising questions about the role of external assurance in assessing CSR reporting credibility.

Acknowledgment
The authors sincerely thank three anonymous reviewers of Environmental Economics for their insightful comments on a previous version of the paper.

This paper aims to analyze the impact of energy consumption, economic structure, and manufacturing output on the CO2 emissions of East European countries by applying the Structural Time Series Model (STSM). Several explanatory factors are used to construct the model using annual data of the 1990–2017 period. The factors are: total primary energy supply, GDP per capita and manufacturing value added, and, finally, a stochastic Underlying Emission Trend (UET). The significant effects of all variables on CO2 emissions are detected. Based on the estimated functions, CO2 emissions of Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Russia, Serbia, and Hungary will decrease, by 2027, to 53.2 Mt, 103.2 Mt, 36.1 Mt, 1528.2 Mt, 36 Mt, and 36.1 Mt, respectively. Distinct from other countries, CO2 emissions of Poland will extend to 312.2 Mt in 2027 due to the very high share of fossil-based supply (i.e., coal and oil) in Poland. The results also indicate that the most forceful factor in CO2 emissions is the total primary energy supply. Furthermore, for Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Belarus, the long-term impact of economic growth on CO2 emissions is negative, while it is positive for Russia, Ukraine, and Serbia. The highest long-term manufacturing value-added elasticity of CO2 emissions is calculated for Serbia and Belarus.

The noise pollution is negative externalities having harmful effects on the individual’s well-being. This paper examines the effect of noise pollution regulations emitted by revival churches (RC) on surrounding populations’ well-being. The analysis focuses on a field survey sample of 726 individuals not belonging to RC and residing in the towns of Yaoundé and Douala, Cameroon. Drawing inspirations from the theoretical and empirical literature, the econometric results obtained with the nested logit model reveal that setting up a control plan against noise pollution produced by RC allows an increase in individuals’ well-being not belonging to RC. These surrounding populations are ready to pay USD 0.889 for the “the regulation of church service opening hours,” USD 0.831 for “the building of sound-proof places of worship,” and USD 0.466 for “the sensitization of RC’s officials on the bad effects of the noise pollution they produce.” To reduce noise pollution, public authorities must not close the places of worship belonging to RCs.

Utilization of modern technologies in food production causes several negative consequences having a long-term impact on public health due to the consumption of food containing components of inorganic origin. This circumstance requires the formation and development of the market of organic food in Ukraine. The paper aims to substantiate the possibility of using economic and organizational tools to rationalize environmentally friendly food consumption and eliminate their negative consequences for the region’s population. The study’s basis is the classical provisions of modern economic theory, environmental economics, and the concept of socio-ethical marketing. Based on the analysis of official statistics, the parameters and opportunities for the growth of the organic food products market in Ukraine by region are determined. The conformity of the product offer of ecologically clean products to different consumer segments in the region is revealed according to the criteria that characterize the groups of goods according to the degree of their ecological purity compared to the price parameter, frequency of purchase, and place of purchase. The priorities for the gradual expansion of the organic food market in the region have been determined with an emphasis on its expansion by attracting new consumer segments. The need for additional organizational measures in the region, aimed at both non-commercial and commercial promotion of healthy lifestyles and proper nutrition, is argued, which increases consumers’ involvement in these processes and increases awareness and interest in regular consumption of organic food.

Scholars warn that wealth leads to unsustainable environmental development. However, over the last decades, studies have shown an increase in environmental degradation at the initial stage of economic growth, and then a decline when economic growth reaches a certain level. This first acceleration and then deceleration create an inverted U-shaped curve between pollution and economic growth, called the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). Environmental degradation can be measured by different factors. This paper deals with two of them, i.e. energy consumption and energy intensity (EI). The latter is measured as the ratio between energy consumption and GDP. The relationship of energy consumption and intensity to economic growth can serve as a tool for examining whether an EKC exists. The paper presents continuous series of energy consumption energy intensity and gross domestic product for the Norwegian mainland economy 1835–2019. The series are used to examine the possible existence of relative and absolute environmental Kuznets curves (EKC). Time series are established using available data and annual figures for 1835–2019, which are presented for the first time. They depict a development that, first, reflects an almost constant downward trend in EI, and, second, the existence of EKCs. The paper also proposes a polynomial regression model to discuss the relationship between environmental degradation as measured by energy consumption and intensity on the one hand, and economic growth on the other. It is concluded that there are both relative and absolute EKC-relations between environmental degradation and economic growth, with 1975 as relative and 2002 as absolute turning point.

Despite progress in reducing air pollutants in several countries, freight transport continues to have undesirable effects on environmental quality, human health, and the economy. Road freight transport, in particular, is associated with various negative externalities, including environmental and health damages, and the overexploitation of non-renewable natural resources. This paper investigates how ICTs interact with road freight transport to affect environmental quality regarding reducing CO2 emissions. The empirical strategy is focused on the yearly dataset from 2002 to 2014 in 43 countries. Using the two-step GMM techniques, the findings suggest that ICTs can decrease road freight transport’s negative impacts on environmental sustainability. Besides, the interactions of mobile phone and fixed telephone technologies with road freight transport are more efficient in reducing pollution than using internet networks. This paper underlines the importance of using ICTs to dampen road freight transport’s negative effects on environmental sustainability.

This study investigates the relationship between economic growth, final consumption, investment, energy use and CO₂  emissions in two groups of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries: Oil Poor Countries (OPC) and Oil Rich Countries (ORC). It is assumed and verified that the structural relationship between GDP growth, energy use and CO₂  emissions is different in these two groups of countries. FGLS panel estimations were carried out over the period 1974–2014. In ORC, no significant relationships are observed between energy use and GDP, whereas CO₂ emissions and GDP are positively linked. In OPC, there are opposite connections: a positive link between GDP and energy use, whereas the impact of CO₂  emissions on GDP tends to be negative. In both groups of countries, a positive and bi-directional link is observed between energy use and CO₂  emissions. The strength of this link is twice bigger in OPC than in ORC. This indicates that CO₂ reduction policies conducted through energy use control (quantitative and qualitative) will have higher effect in OPC than in ORC. This also shows that the relationships between economic growth, energy use and CO₂  emissions differ noticeably and structurally between OPC and ORC. These results provide new insights into the opportunities and threats faced by CO₂ reduction policies in OPCs and ORCs.