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Energy shortage and excessive carbon emissions have become the main constraints to the sustainable development of China's logistics industry. Improving the efficiency of the logistics industry is crucial to promoting regional ecological environment protection and sustainable development of the logistics industry. In this paper, the efficiency of China's logistics industry in 2013–2019 is evaluated by using the non-oriented EBM model considering the unexpected output, and then the influencing factors of the efficiency of the logistics industry in the central region are analyzed by using the panel Tobit model. The results show that the logistics industry in the central region is at a low efficiency level. Factors, such as the level of economic development, industrial structure and technical level have a significant positive impact on the efficiency of the logistics industry in the central region, while factors such as government support and logistics infrastructure have a significant negative impact on the efficiency of the logistics industry in the central region. Finally, the paper puts forward some targeted recommendations for the sustainable development of the logistics industry in the central region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, there exists a huge debate for a long time on whether a double dividend, reducing pollution emissions and boosting employment, can be achieved by intensifying environmental regulations. In this paper, we use two data sets on provincial environmental legislation and Chinese manufacturing firms during 1998–2013, to estimate the impact of provincial environmental legislation on the firms' employment growth with a difference-in-difference (DID) model. Results showed that (1) after the implementation of environmental legislation, the employment growth of regulated manufacturing firms decreases significantly by 3.07%, and this result is robust to alternative tests. (2) Local environmental legislation reduces employment growth mainly via the influencing mechanism of the firm's entry and exit, export, and innovation. (3) The local environmental legislation has heterogeneous impacts on employment growth in different industries and different regions, and the estimated effect is more obvious in high-pollution industries and areas with strong enforcement. (4) Environmental legislation significantly improves job destruction and reduces job creation, resulting in a − 3.86% job net increase. Due to the long-term implementation of extensive economic growth mode, China's ecological environment has been deteriorating since the 1990s, and environmental pollution has attracted more and more social attention. Until 2013, the Communist Party of China put forward 'ecological civilization', and building a beautiful new China with harmonious coexistence between man and nature has become an important development strategy. Meanwhile, starting from the implementation of the Two-Control-Zone policy in 1998, China has implemented numerous environmental policies in just ten years. These environmental policies have greatly improved the quality of China's ecological environment, but their economic effects have been controversial. Given the special historical period, this paper helps assess the impact of Chinese environmental policies on employment and provides a more objective policy evaluation and implications for improving existing laws and regulations to achieve higher social welfare. To achieve this goal of balancing the improvement of the ecological environment and high employment level, environmental policies firstly should be flexible to ensure that the environmental standards follow the firm's characteristics and regional characteristics to avoid "one size fits all". Particularly, for regions with poor economic development or having a single industrial structure, the implementation cycle of the environmental policies should be extended to ensure that they have enough time to achieve industrial restructuring and complete the environmental protection goals. Secondly, we find that environmental legislation hurts employment growth by limiting export decisions, so the government should use multiple channels to stabilize export when implementing environmental legislation. Thirdly, technological R&D and innovation play an important role in the effect of environmental legislation on firms' employment growth. Therefore, the government should provide a more flexible environment for firms' R&D and innovation with appropriate fiscal policies and technical support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information asymmetry is a prominent problem in the advancement of green finance, and because of the difficulty of capturing "information", research on the role of information factors in green finance has been limited. In this study, a quasi-natural experiment based on China's environmental information disclosure system in 2008 is conducted to investigate the effect of information factors on green finance. Using the panel datasets of China's 107 cities and 173 environmental protection firms from 2005 to 2015, this study, respectively, adopts the difference-in-difference (DID) method and triple difference (DDD) method to examine the effect of environmental information disclosure on regional green finance development and the utilization efficiency of green funds. According to the results, public disclosure of environmental information can promote both regional green finance development and the efficient utilization of green funds by energy-based environmental protection enterprises. Heterogeneity analysis at the regional level suggests that environmental information disclosure has a greater impact on green finance in regions with lower resource endowments and stronger environmental regulations. Heterogeneity analysis at enterprise level shows that compared to state-owned energy-based environmental firms, the efficiency of green capital utilization of non-state-owned energy-based environmental firms is more sensitive to the disclosure of environmental information. The findings of this paper provide a theoretical and empirical foundation for developing green finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy-saving and environmental protection enterprises (ESEPEs) are one of the most important national green enterprises, and their sustainability has become critical to achieving the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. Analyzing an enterprise's sustainability over time allows leaders to better adjust the operating plan for the next stage. From both optimistic and pessimistic double frontier perspectives, this paper proposes a double frontier incremental data envelopment analysis (DEA) model based on the traditional DEA-CCR model. The proposed model allows a direct assessment of whether the stage efficiency of the ESEPE is efficient or inefficient. To better understand the ranking of each enterprise in the industry, this paper uses a stage cross-efficiency model based on Shapley value from the perspective of a cooperative game, which ranks the enterprises from a neutral standpoint. The proposed double-frontier incremental DEA model is applied in a stage sustainability assessment for 15 ESEPEs. The results show that the proposed DEA model is more direct than the traditional DEA-CCR model in reflecting the enterprise's stage efficiency. In the three stages, 2012–2015, 2015–2018, and 2018–2021, the majority of the selected 15 ESEPEs have efficient stage efficiency, whereas several enterprises are stage inefficient. The reasons for stage inefficiency stem more from within the enterprise, where the enterprise's working capital is unstable, goodwill is impaired, and so on, resulting in stagnation of various revenues and funding and investment rounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of urban environmental sustainability is an important prerequisite for scientific decision-making of urban sustainability. This paper proposed an evaluation method of urban environmental sustainability based on the integration of multi-improvement demands. Considering the interaction between the economic and social systems on the environmental system, this paper constructed an urban environmental sustainability evaluation indicator system from three dimensions: environmental foundation, environmental pollution, and environmental protection. Combined with the actual improvement demands of each city, a corresponding weighting method was constructed, and the weights of each city's individualized improvement demands were obtained through the analysis of indicator data. Further, in order to consider the fairness and guidance of the evaluation, the corresponding random simulation algorithm was matched for the individualized weights, and the evaluation value and the superiority probability in a stable state after multiple simulations were sought. Based on this, this paper conducted an empirical evaluation of urban environmental sustainability of the 14 cities in Liaoning Province, China. Through the demand-driven evaluation model, cities can obtain improvement suggestions that meet their demands while understanding their environmental sustainability level. It is convenient for top-down policy guidance and bottom-up practical exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution poses a great danger to human health and economic development, and understanding people's willingness to pay for improved air quality (WTPA) impacts environmental protection. This paper investigates WTPA based on the perspective of subjective well-being (SWB) and analyzes the mediating role of social interaction on the relationship between the two. This paper distinguishes social interactions into online and offline interactions and analyzes whether the mediating effect of the two different interactions on SWB and WTPA exists separately. Using data from the 2018 China General Social Survey (CGSS), we find that SWB has a significant positive effect on WTPA, individuals with higher well-being have higher pro-environmental willingness; there is no age, education level, sex of the person, or regional heterogeneity in the effect of SWB on WTPA; offline social interactions play a partially mediating role between SWB and WTPA, while online social interactions failed to mediate between the two. This paper's policy implication is that improving residents' subjective well-being is both an important development goal and an essential way to resolve the conflict between economic development and environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue examines environmental governance, conceptualized as environmental protections, support for sustainable development, and the regulation of large-scale development projects. Through analysis of dynamics during the commodities super-cycle of the 2000s–2010s, contributors explore the multifaceted ways that societal actors interact with the state to support, oppose, or modify environmental governance, with a focus on communities impacted by export activities and economic elites who favor their expansion. Several papers seek to understand the governance of sectors—mining, oil, and soy. Others begin with natural areas threatened by development—urban wetlands and forests. As a collection, the papers reveal three commonalities that affect the extent to which environmental governance institutions address demands of impacted communities: (1) the question of whether a policymaking process takes place in reaction to mobilizing, or whether it proactively engages environmental questions as they pertain to local populations; (2) strategies by civil society, and above all impacted residents, to ensure the implementation of environmental policies; and (3) debates over knowledge, including community efforts to harness expertise and information to counter paradigms advanced by business actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the excessive input and inefficient use of agrochemicals are crucial for global food security, environmental protection, and human health. This paper offers a new idea from the perspective of outsourcing agricultural production. The impact of outsourcing on the frequency and intensity of agrochemical inputs were theoretically analyzed and empirically tested using a field survey of 1211 farmers in Heilongjiang, Henan, and Hunan, the major food-producing areas in China. A Logit regression framework was used to analyze the effect, a conditional mixture process (CMP) method was used to address potential endogeneity concerns, and a mediation effect model was used to dissect the mechanism. The results show that the effect of outsourcing on both input frequency and input intensity of agrochemicals was positive at the 1% significance level. The positive effect conclusion still holds even after addressing the potential endogeneity concerns, and in the sub-sample estimates for maize, wheat, and rice. We conclude that outsourcing can improve the utilization efficiency of agrochemicals by increasing the frequency of agrochemical inputs, but fail to solve the excessive agrochemical inputs and even leads to a further increase in the intensity of agrochemical inputs. Moreover, the mechanism for an increase in agrochemical input intensity due to outsourcing was explored, and it is more likely to be caused by inhibiting farmers' investment in soil improvement measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the path from ecological discourse (ED) to ecological behaviour (EB) in environmental protection from the perspective of the ecolinguistic continuum. ED (i.e. beneficial and destructive discourse) is taken as a new indicator for improving individual EB in environmental protection. Based on the questionnaire survey data of 992 participants from 27 (79.4%) provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China, a tentative structural equation model (SEM) is established consisting of ED, ecological values (EV), ecological intention (EI), and EB. Through the path analysis (mediating and moderating effect test) by AMOS 23.0 software, the results show that ED cannot directly affect EB, which may be mediated by EV or EI, or both of the two, but the probability of an individual's ecological practice will be increased by the influence of beneficial ED as input. Furthermore, under the moderating of ED, the probability of transforming EI into EB is greater than that of EV, suggesting that ED has a bigger voice in EI→EB, and a positive and significant moderating effect of beneficial discourse is tested. Thus, ED as an indicator provides a new perspective on environmental protection and sustainable development. Potential applications for this indicator are also included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the influence of a geogrid-reinforced tailings dam on the seepage stability of the dam body, this paper was based on the field test of a reinforced tailings accumulation dam. The study utilized the finite element strength reduction method to simulate the stability of the main dam of the Fengshuigou tailings reservoir under different seepage conditions using ABAQUS software. Additionally, the paper discussed the impact of conventional heightening, dry beach length, and geogrid reinforcement on the position and safety factor of the saturation line of the dam body. The results showed that when the dam body was raised, the saturation line rose by 2.8–5.3 m, resulting in a decrease in the safety factor. The geogrid effectively reduced the height of the saturation line in the tailings dam. In comparison to the unreinforced condition (dam heightening), the saturation line of the tailings dam decreased by 0.9–2.8 m under the local reinforcement condition and by 3.2–12.5 m under the overall reinforcement condition. The geogrid significantly improved the stability of the tailings dam. Furthermore, under the local reinforcement condition, the safety factor of the dam increased by 3.8–5.5%, and under the overall reinforcement condition, it increased by 35.9–42.9%, when compared to the unreinforced condition. Increasing the dry beach length improved the stability of the tailings dam, and under normal working conditions, the safety of the tailings dam was much higher than under the minimum dry beach condition. These results served as a reference for the design of the dam and the new tailings reservoir, laying a foundation for the sustainable development and environmental protection of the tailings pond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conflict between agricultural production and environmental protection, especially vegetable production, is one of the world's most prominent concerns. The acceptance degree and possible response of new agricultural operation subjects, represented by Farmers Professional Cooperatives (FPCs), to green production policies are a core issue that must be considered when designing environmental policies in the future. Based on field survey data of 192 FPCs of vegetables in Shanghai, China, this paper uses a choice experiment method to test the willingness of cooperatives to adopt green production behaviors under different policy settings and to identify the differences under different operation scales. The results show that both mandatory policies and incentive policies have an impact on the willingness of cooperatives to adopt green production behaviors, but significant differences exist among FPCs of different operation scales. Specifically, the willingness of large-scale FPCs to adopt green production behavior is affected by key technology training and income subsidies, whereas the willingness of small-scale FPCs is only affected by income subsidies; the willingness of medium-scale FPCs is simultaneously affected by key technology training, income subsidies, and penalties. Therefore, when formulating relevant policies in the future, policy-makers should consider local conditions, including the endowment heterogeneity of the production and operation subjects, so as to enhance the level of green production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Daling River Basin is an important ecological functional area in the western region of Liaoning with outstanding environmental problems. The monitoring of ecological and environmental quality in the basin and the analysis of driving factors are of great importance for the protection of the ecological environment and the improvement of economic quality. In this paper, the three periods of Landsat remote sensing images in 1995, 2010 and 2020 are used as the basic data, and platforms and technical means such as RS and GIS are used to decipher and extract the three periods of land use information, and to construct the land use type transfer matrix. The remote sensing ecological index (RSEI) was improved, and the principal component analysis method was applied to construct the improved remote sensing ecological index (IRSEI) model based on the greenness (NDVI), moisture (WET), heat (LST) and new dryness (N-NDBSI), so as to realize the dynamic monitoring of ecological and environmental quality in the study area. Based on the land use change, combined with the trend of improved remote sensing ecological index (IRSEI) of Daling River Basin, thus achieving the purpose of rapid and efficient dynamic monitoring of ecological quality of Daling River Basin from 1995 to 2020. A geoprobe model was then used to systematically assess the drivers of ecological quality in the catchment. The results show that the improved remote sensing ecological index (IRSEI) can efficiently and accurately obtain the spatial distribution pattern and temporal variation trend of IRSEI in the study area, which is more in line with the characteristics of indicators in this study area. The IRSEI in the study area showed an increasing trend from 1995 to 2020, from 0.4794 to 0.5615, and the proportion of benign ecological classes increased year by year during the period. Among the evaluation indicators, NDVI and N-NDBSI are the main factors affecting the environmental and ecological quality of the Daling River Basin, and the increase of vegetation cover, climate regulation and human activities have obvious promoting effects on the improvement of the ecological environment of the Daling River Basin. This study provides a scientific theoretical basis for the implementation of further ecological environmental protection measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless sensors are used for smart building monitoring, biomedical applications, intelligent home appliances, urgent disaster management and precision agriculture production. These devices today operate with batteries that are very difficult to change. The major problem hindering the widespread deployment of wireless sensor networks is the need to constantly replace them because their batteries expires. We can see that it is possible to charge them using energy harvested from solar, vibration, thermal or ambient radio frequency sources. we can implement sustainable health surveillance systems, agriculture, mining, environmental protection and national infrastructure, which will improve the quality of life, save money and achieve ecological goals. We realized that it would be wise to specify a field of application for internet of things in order to be able to clarify the identification of the problem of energy consumption and its relation with renewable energies. In addition, one of the most interesting applications for the socio-economic fields in the world in recent years is Smart Farming. In this paper, we reviewed a state of the art on the use of renewable energy harvesting in precision agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the information era, effective environmental protection cannot be achieved without public concern. In this paper, public environmental concern (PEC) is subdivided into public concern about environmental pollution (PCEP), environmental regulations (PCER), and green behavior (PCGB). Based on the data set of the listed companies in China from 2011 to 2019 and the Baidu Index, we examine the influence of the three types of PECs on enterprises' environmental protection investment (EPI) in their different stages of the enterprise life cycle. It was found that three types of PECs have a significant impact on EPI, with PCER having the greatest effect. The impact of PEC varies at stages of the enterprise life cycle, and only in the growth stage, the three kinds of PECs play a significant role in promoting enterprises' EPI, while not in the maturity and the decline stages. Heterogeneity analysis shows that this positive effect is only significant for enterprises without ISO14001 certification and those in western China; PCER can significantly promote capitalized environmental investment, while PCEP can significantly promote expensed environmental investment. The findings can help to clarify the key role of the public in supervising the enterprises' environmental protection behavior and provide a decision-making basis for enterprises to dynamically adjust their environmental investment strategies in the whole life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous development of the economy and society, along with the sustained population growth, the issue of water resources carrying capacity in China has attracted increasing attention. This paper constructs a model for evaluating the provincial water resources carrying capacity in China from four dimensions: water, economy, society, and ecology. Utilizing this model, we analyze the spatiotemporal variations in water resources carrying capacity among 31 provinces in China from 2005 to 2021. Additionally, we delve into the coupling coordination and influencing factors of water resources carrying capacity. The study reveals an overall increasing trend in China's water resources carrying capacity index, with the ecological indicator exhibiting the most significant growth while the water resources sub-indicator lags behind. There are notable regional differences, with higher water resources carrying capacity observed in the eastern coastal areas and relatively lower capacity in the western regions. The ecological criterion becomes a core factor constraining water resources carrying capacity from 2005 to 2015, gradually giving way to the prominence of the social criterion since 2015. The coordination degree is relatively higher in the eastern regions, more scattered in the western regions, and relatively stable in the central regions. Based on the research findings, a series of recommendations are proposed, including strengthening environmental protection policies, optimizing water resources management mechanisms, improving water use efficiency, and promoting economic structural diversification. These suggestions aim to facilitate the sustainable development of water resources carrying capacity in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green investment is crucial to achieving the green transformation goal. Under increasingly strict environmental protection laws and regulations, whether it can induce the "Porter Hypothesis" effect and stimulate the green investment of enterprises is still controversial. This paper takes the China's new environmental protection law (NEPL) as a quasi-natural experiment, uses the green investment data of listed companies in China's heavy pollution industry, and applies the method of propensity score matching and difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) to verify whether the implementation of the law conforms to the "strong Porter Hypothesis." The results show that as a strict command-and-control environmental regulation tool, the implementation of NEPL has significantly promoted corporate's green investments in heavily polluting industries. The implementation of the NEPL guides to more standardized environmental disclosure regulation, stricter environmental enforcement, and severer financial constraints, and thus propel corporate's green investment. In addition, heterogeneity analysis indicates that the effect of NEPL is more significant in those samples of enterprises located in the regions with higher industrial concentration degree or with higher level of government environmental governance, enterprises of small and medium type, and enterprises with better financial performance and higher degree of equity incentive. To achieve the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, this paper provides evidence to test whether "Porter Hypothesis" is established in transition economies from the view of environmental investment and provides reference for how developing country can further enrich their environmental regulation system and optimize enterprise's environmental protection strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research intends to look into the connection between Thailand's tourist industry and environmental quality. This study specifically examines how tourism industry and trade sector affect the environmental quality in Thailand. The objectives of the study are to assess how trade and tourism affect the environment and to provide suggestions for environment friendly travel habits. The autoregressive distributed lag model was used in the research to analyze in both the long- and short-term links between environmental quality, tourism, and trade in Thailand. The study's statistics, which span the years from 1995 to 2021, were taken from the World Bank database. According to the study's results, Thailand's trade and tourism are significantly inversely correlated with environmental quality. Based on this research, both the short- and long-term effects of increased trade and tourism are a reduction in the country's environmental quality. By presenting factual proof of the damaging effects of commerce and tourism on Thailand's ecosystem, the research adds to the body of previous material. The report also emphasizes the need for decision-makers to implement environmental protection laws and sustainable tourism practices in order to lessen the damaging effects of trade and tourism on the environment. The study's conclusions suggest that the Thai government gives concentration in implementing environment friendly tourist practices a higher priority. To further guarantee that the detrimental effects of trade and tourism on the environment are kept to a minimum, the government should think about enacting environmental protection measures. The paper concludes by recommending more research be conducted to examine how other elements, such as technology, may affect Thailand's environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increased frequency of extreme weather events and the implementation of the China's dual-carbon target, thermal power companies have been under pressure to construct green infrastructure and to actively pursue low-carbon transformation in response to stricter environmental regulations. This research thus selects 30 listed thermal power enterprises in China as study objects and assesses their green investment efficiency in the low-carbon transition process using three-stage DEA evaluation model with environmental regulation as an exogenous variable. Based on this, a benchmark regression model is used to corroborate the relationship between environmental regulation and green investment. Simultaneously, we carry out analysis to compare the correlation between thermal power firms' green investment efficiency and their focus on green investments. The results show in terms of total efficiency that environmental regulation significantly improves the total efficiency of 80% of thermal power enterprises compared to the absence of this exogenous variable. With the addition of environmental regulation, firms' total efficiency declines gradually in general from 2018 to 2022, with the mean value of efficiency falling by 0.068. In terms of stage-specific efficiency, the efficiency of the green investment stage of the majority of firms is between 0.3 and 0.6, which is much lower than that of the operational stage and the market performance stage. In terms of sub-indicator efficiency, both green investment efficiency and social donation efficiency among thermal power enterprises show obvious polarization, with 30% of them having an efficiency of 1 and 30% less than 0.1. In terms of green investment focus, thermal power unit renovation has a more obvious role in boosting the green investment efficiency of thermal power enterprises than do wind power and photovoltaic projects. Therefore, both governmental departments and thermal power enterprises need to take active measures in order to achieve green transformation from the perspective of green investment efficiency. Through the segmentation of important projects of green investment, this paper provides a reasonable investment direction reference for the sustainable transformation of China's thermal power industry. It also provides a rich and novel theoretical basis for the Chinese government to further improve the relevant environmental protection laws and regulations of thermal power industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ebinur Lake Basin is an ecologically sensitive area in an arid region. Investigating its land use and land cover (LULC) change and assessing and predicting its ecosystem service value (ESV) are of great importance for the stability of the basin's socioeconomic development and sustainable development of its ecological environment. Based on LULC data from 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020, we assessed the ESV of the Ebinur Lake Basin and coupled the grey multi-objective optimization model with the patch generation land use simulation model to predict ESV changes in 2035 under four scenarios: business-as-usual (BAU) development, rapid economic development (RED), ecological protection (ELP), and ecological–economic balance (EEB). The results show that from 1990 to 2020, the basin was dominated by grassland (51.23%) and unused land (27.6%), with a continuous decrease in unused land and an increase in cultivated land. In thirty years, the total ESV of the study area increased from 18.62 billion to 67.28 billion yuan, with regulation and support services being the dominant functions. By 2035, cultivated land increased while unused land decreased in all four scenarios compared with that in 2020. The total ESV in 2035 under the BAU, RED, ELP, and EEB scenarios was 68.83 billion, 64.47 billion, 67.99 billion, and 66.79 billion yuan, respectively. In the RED and EEB scenarios, ESV decreased by 2.81 billion and 0.49 billion yuan, respectively. In the BAU scenario, provisioning and regulation services increased by 6.05% and 2.93%, respectively. The ELP scenario, focusing on ecological and environmental protection, saw an increase in ESV for all services. This paper can assist policymakers in optimizing land use allocation and provide scientific support for the formulation of land use strategies and sustainable ecological and environmental development in the inland river basins of arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this paper is to reconsider the necessity for the green transition and the key preconditions for the implementation of a circular economy in Western Balkan countries. With the objective of the research in mind, the method of analysis and synthesis was applied to determine (1) regulatory and institutional prerequisites for the green transition; (2) the need for the Western Balkan countries to redefine the model of sustainable economic growth towards the green transition; (3) the development opportunities for recovery defined in the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans; and (4) the possibility of implementing the circular economy in the Western Balkans. Main text: The main findings of the research indicate that: (1) the countries of the Western Balkan region, following the example of the EU, should define a national strategic approach to the green transition with an accompanying action plan and regulatory framework; (2) the biggest challenge of the green transition is the reform of the energy sector and the restructuring of the energy-intensive economy; (3) the countries have untapped potential in renewable energy sources and report the improvement of energy efficiency; (4) the circular economy can boost the green transition, because the countries of the region have a five-time lower value of resource productivity than the average of the EU, while the generation of waste (excluding major mineral wastes) per GDP unit is lower compared to the EU; (5) cross-sectoral governance should be more coordinated. Conclusions: The green transition might be a development opportunity for the Western Balkans, which should enable sustainable economic growth as well as energy security and environmental protection. However, the implementation of the Green Agenda is not easy, because the region faces the problem of underdeveloped regulatory and institutional capacities that might provide not only the base for long-term planning but also financial resources for the efficient implementation of projects. In addition, it is essential to understand the principles of the Green Agenda and the interaction of all activities that should enable the achievement of defined goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research bears significant implications for river management, flood forecasting, and ecosystem preservation in the Lower Narmada Basin. A more precise estimation of Manning's Roughness Coefficeint (n) will enhance the accuracy of hydraulic models and facilitate informed decision-making regarding flood risk management, water resource allocation, and environmental conservation efforts. Ultimately, this study aspires to contribute to the sustainable management of perennial river systems in India and beyond by offering a robust methodology for optimizing Manning's n tailored to the complex hydrological dynamics of the Lower Narmada Basin. Through a synthesis of empirical evidence and computational modelling, it seeks to empower stakeholders with actionable insights toward preserving and enhancing these invaluable natural resources. Using the new HEC-RAS v 6.0, a one-dimensional hydrodynamic model was developed to predict overbank discharge at different points along the basin. The study analyzes water levels, stream discharges, and river stage, optimizing Manning's n and required flood risk management. The model predicted a strong output agreement with R2, NSE, and RMSE for the 2020 event as 0.83, 0.81, and 0.36, respectively, with an optimum Manning's n of 0.03. The lower Narmada Basin part near the coastal zone (validation point) appears inundated frequently. The paper aims to provide insights into optimizing Manning's coefficient, which can ultimately lead to better water flow predictions and more efficient water management in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental protection tax (EPT) reform is a major strategic measure to further implement green development and is the most important environmental economic policy in China. Using data from 3339 companies listed on the A-shares in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen from 2006 to 2021, this paper evaluates the policy impact of the EPT on corporate carbon emissions and its internal mechanism from the perspective of green innovation by the DID method. The results show that EPT reform effectively promotes corporate carbon emission reduction, and the conclusion remains valid after robustness tests such as the DDD and DML method. The EPT reform mainly promotes carbon emission reduction in companies with high executive compensation levels and high environmental information disclosure, and mature companies. Furthermore, the EPT reform promotes enterprises to reduce carbon emissions by forcing them to adopt strategic and endpoint green innovation, and this "forcing" effect is mainly reflected in internal incentives and external pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optimal dispatch in power systems is a complex mathematical model of nonlinear programming with many physical constraints, which is difficult to solve by conventional methods. Thus, intelligent algorithms are now viable options for resolving the nonlinear scheduling issues of microgrids. In this paper, we propose a double-layer optimization strategy based on the multi-point improved gray wolf algorithm (MPIGWO). The inner layer optimizes load profiles with time-of-use tariffs. The outer one achieves a fast search for the optimal solution and prevents getting stuck in a local optimum, which improves the gray wolf algorithm significantly. First, the Bernoulli map is used to randomly generate the initial population. Second, the efficiency of optimization can be improved by modifying the attenuation factor based on the Sin function and then updating the exact weight factor of the position to reasonably select the best position. Finally, an improved dimensional learning-based hunting (IDLH) search strategy is employed to determine the optimal solution. The numerical case study shows that the proposed double-layer optimization strategy can implement dynamic scheduling for distributed power sources while lowering the costs of economic operation and environmental protection significantly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper looks at the relationship between enterprise size and pollution abatement costs using firm-level datasets in China, where size-dependent distortions may exist in the distribution of enterprises of different sizes. We find that the pollution abatement costs decrease with enterprise size. Compared to the smallest size, the magnitudes of marginal decreases in pollution abatement costs per 1000 CNY of industrial output in the largest size are 3.29 CNY, 0.54 CNY and 2.60 CNY for gas, SO2 and dust, respectively. Moreover, we further explore the potential mechanisms for the decrease of pollution abatement costs from three perspectives: environmental protection-related investment, regulation intensity, and technological capability. Our findings suggest that the decrease in the intensity of environmental protection-related investment for large enterprises may be directly reduce the intensity of pollution abatement costs. Although large enterprises have low intensity of pollution abatement costs, this does not mean that they are subject to weaker environmental regulation. More importantly, we find that large enterprises may have more adoption of abatement technologies. For SO2 and dust, the pollutant removal efficiency of the largest enterprises is 4.92% and 1.82% higher than that of the smallest enterprises, respectively. Our results are robust to different specifications. These findings help us enact appropriate policies for enterprises based on their size, thereby improving the efficacy of pollution abatement and achieving the optimal level of pollution abatement for the entire society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of renewable energy has become an important measure for countries worldwide to improve air quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and achieve sustainable development. This trend may have implications for green total factor productivity (GTFP), which represents the economic growth efficiency in terms of resource and energy use. However, the current research on the impact of renewable energy development (RED) on GTFP based on China's provincial data is still insufficient, and it has not yet integrated multiple factors such as economic, social, environmental, and technological aspects to jointly analyze potential nonlinear effects. This paper first calculates the GTFP of 30 provinces in China using a global super-efficiency slack-based measure model. Then, a two-way fixed effects model and a panel threshold regression (PTR) model were used to explore the linear and nonlinear effects of RED on GTFP. The results show that: First, RED has a significant positive effect on GTFP, which remains in effect after a sequence of robustness tests including endogenous treatment. For every 1% increase in RED, GTFP increases by 0.025%–0.039%. Second, the contribution of RED to GTFP shows a clear characteristic of diminishing marginal benefits, with the impact coefficient decreasing from 0.058% to 0.022%. Third, the higher the level of economic activity, social conditions, environmental protection, and technological advancement, the greater the favorable impact of RED on GTFP. The range of coefficient changes under the influence of economic- and social-level factors reaches 0.012%–0.143%, while the range of coefficient changes at the technological and environmental levels is only 0.026%–0.057%. Based on the above conclusions, some policy implications related to the development of renewable energy are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of great significance to study the influence of temperature and humidity on total electric field of HVDC lines for improving the refinement of line design and environmental protection. In this paper, an outdoor experimental platform is built to study the effects of humidity on ground total electric field under unipolar positive and negative HVDC test lines in natural environment. The experimental results show that in natural environment, in the range of 35%–70% humidity, with the increase in the relative humidity, the ground total electric field under positive and negative HVDC test line increases at first. But when the humidity reaches 70%–85%, for the negative HVDC test line, the increase trend of ground total electric field obviously slows down, and the electric field begins to decrease when the humidity is higher than 85%. In contrast, the ground total electric field under positive HVDC test line keeps increasing all the time. According to the theoretical analysis, the increase in the relative humidity in natural environment is accompanied by the decrease in the temperature, which is the main reason for these experimental phenomena. According to the research conclusion, stricter field strength control measures should be taken in the design of unipolar HVDC transmission lines in areas where the annual average humidity is relatively high than in the area with low annual average humidity. At the same time, in areas where annual humidity is relatively low, for the bipolar HVDC transmission line, it is merely of need to assess the ground total electric field under negative conductor, and the asymmetric corridor scheme can be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental protection tax is of great significance to the realization of an environment-friendly society. Using data from 280 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2020, this paper measures total factor energy efficiency in China by the super slack-based measure model. The impact of China's environmental protection tax reform on total factor energy efficiency is tested through differences-in-differences method, and its transmission mechanism is explored. Environmental protection tax reform policies have a significant positive impact on total factor energy efficiency. Environmental protection tax reform policies have greater impact on resource-intensive cities in central region and cities with lower initial energy efficiency. Cities with increased tax have positive spillover effects on the neighboring cities. This study provides empirical evidence for further optimization of environmental protection taxes and energy efficiency. The structure of the environmental tax system should be optimized, and the environmental tax policy should be implemented according to local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study establishes a calibrated SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model for the Huntai Basin, driven by SSP126, SSP245, SSP585, and multi-model ensemble (MME) models in CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project-6), to investigate the effects of climate change on hydrological processes and pollution load in the Huntai Basin. The results show that the annual mean temperature and the annual precipitation will gradually increase. The nitrogen and phosphorus pollution loads in the basin exhibit a trend of decreasing-increasing-decreasing. The correlation between the nitrogen-phosphorus pollution load and the hydrological process strengthens with increasing radiative forcing. In the four scenarios, CO2 is a primary driving factor that contributes greatly to nitrogen and phosphorus pollution. The main differences are in the total driving factors, and SSP126 and SSP245 are less than those of other models. The total phosphorus and total nitrogen pollution in different climate models were higher than the average level during the benchmark period, except for ammonia nitrogen pollution, which was lower. The nitrogen and phosphorus pollution in SSP126 and SSP245 modes will reach the maximum in 2040s, and the pollution in other periods will be lower than that in SSP585 and MME scenarios. In the long run, the development state between SSP126 and SSP245 may be better appropriate for the Huntai Basin's future sustainable development. This paper analyzes the occurrence and influencing factors of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution under climate change to provide reference to the protection of water environment under changing environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution and overuse of chemical fertilizers in Iran are still a considerable issue, so further research is needed to gain a deeper understanding of the challenge. Accordingly, modifying farmers' inefficient behaviors toward the use of chemical fertilizers (UCFs) is a policy initiative taken by all countries to achieve sustainable agriculture, but the rate of adoption by stakeholders is a challenge, yet has the potential to be under study. Employing 375 potato farmers in Hamedan County, western Iran, the present research mainly investigated driving factors that account for and give new information about farmers' behavior toward the UCFs, Iran, where a substantial volume of agriculture products is produced in this district. The developed theory of planned behavior served as a predicting theoretical foundation to accomplish so. The resulting evidence made clear that 60 percent of the variance in farmers' behaviors of the UCFs is forecasted by the two constructs of farmers' intention and knowledge. This study concludes that farmers' behavior toward the UCFs is needed to be adjusted by providing farmers with the required knowledge and information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dilemma between economic development and environmental protection has gained widespread attention, but limited research from the perspective of political business cycles exists. By utilizing detailed official turnover datasets and two-way fixed effect models, this study investigates the impact of political turnovers of city leaders on changes in urban PM2.5 (particulate matter 2.5) density in China. It examines how different stages of a leader's tenure contribute to these changes and considers their potential connection to the performance-based cadre evaluation system that drives government turnovers in China. The study finds that prior to turnover, mayors tend to relax environmental regulations, leading to an 1.5% increase in PM2.5 density. However, during the second years after the mayor has taken office, air quality improves, with a 1% decrease in PM2.5 density. The effect of political business cycles on air quality is heterogeneous across cities with varying financial conditions, innovative capacity, and population size. The findings provide evidence that environmental protection might be sacrificed for economic development in the period prior turnover, particularly in cities with lower development levels. These insights can assist the government in considering how political cycles and the heterogeneous regional characteristics can be adjusted to promote environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving sustainable development in West Africa is vital for integrating environmental, social and economic well-being in the region. This study examines the impact of operational risk management and financial sector's stability on sustainable development in West Africa, focusing on countries that are members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) from 2015 to 2022. Data from the World Development Indicators (WDI) and country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) were analyzed using the systems GMM to control for endogeneity. The study found conflicting results for financial sector stability's impact on adjusted net savings and the sustainable development index. While financial sector stability had a negative effect on adjusted net savings, it had a positive impact on the sustainable development index. Additionally, environmental taxes were found to contribute to sustainable development by promoting efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. In conclusion, addressing operational risks, ensuring financial sector stability and promoting sustainable development can help achieve SDGs 8, 9, and 11, creating a stable, inclusive, and resilient economic environment conducive to long-term growth and sustainability in West Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change has generated an increasing number of environmental problems, especially in Mediterranean coastal areas, such as the Po Delta (PD), where shellfish production has undergone an overall decline because of strong environmental changes. The present study is centred on assessing the fundamental ecological aspects in one of the most crucial European shellfish production lagoons, Sacca degli Scardovari (SC), addressing phytoplankton community parameters directly affecting shellfish production, namely, chemotaxonomic composition, size fractions, and total biomass, in relation to the physicochemical properties of the water column and mussel filtering activity. Our findings suggest that the phytoplankton community structure, its role within the lagoon food web and its production cycles depend on two distinct allogenic inputs, which shape the community differently and exert substantial control on shellfish production. At the same time, the suspended mussel biomass strongly controls the phytoplankton size composition, as their growth is largely supported by nanophytoplankton. As the Po River collects the drainage waters of the Italian side of the entire Alpine Arch, the phytoplankton dynamics reported here represent a useful baseline for further addressing issues of climatic changes affecting lagoon ecology. We believe that our study presents an innovative tool for the planning and management of interventions aimed at enhancing national mussel production without neglecting aspects of environmental protection or the integrity of the coastal system, with significant scientific implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water-scarce regions, like the Mediterranean, face worsening conditions due to climate change, intensifying pressure on key economic sectors such as hydropower. Additionally, environmental conservation policies, particularly the implementation of environmental flows, present challenges for hydropower systems. Certainty regarding the impact of these factors on future hydropower production is crucial for informed decision-making in the transition to sustainable energy. This study introduces S + HydPower, a tool coupled with SWAT+ to assess climate change and watershed management effects on small hydropower plant (SHP) systems. In this study, we used this tool to investigate the consequences of implementing environmental flows and climate change on run-of-river SHPs in the Catalan River Basin District (CRBD), in Catalonia. The results show that applying environmental flows would lead to a significant 27% reduction in SHP production. However, this reduction would represent only 0.25% of the region's current energy demand. Furthermore, the study reveals a potential 38% to 73% reduction in SHP production by the end of the twenty-first century due to the combined effects of environmental flows and climate change. This suggests a substantial decline in run-of-river SHP's contribution to the CRBD's electricity supply. These findings emphasize the need to explore alternative and sustainable energy sources to ensure the long-term reliability and resilience of the region's energy supply. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the crucial role of marine ecosystems and the escalating environmental conservation challenges, it is essential to conduct marine monitoring to help implement targeted environmental protection measures efficiently. Energy harvesting technologies, particularly triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), have great potential for prolonging the lifespan and enhancing the reliability of sensors in remote areas. However, the high internal resistance, low current, and friction-induced abrasion issues of TENGs limit their performance in practical applications. This work presents a rolling mode triboelectric nanogenerator that utilizes multi-tunnel grating electrodes and the opposite-charge-enhancement mechanism to harvest wave energy efficiently. The device achieves significant instantaneous and root mean square power density of 185.4 W/(m3·Hz) and 10.92 W/(m3·Hz), respectively. By utilizing stacked devices and an exclusively designed power management module, a self-powered ocean sensing system including computing and long-range wireless communication (0.8 km) capabilities was developed. Laboratory and in-situ ocean tests were conducted to assess and validate the system. This work offers a potential solution for the challenging deployment of marine self-powered sensing nodes. Limited current output hinders triboelectric nanogenerators for maritime applications. Authors design a rolling-mode TENG with multi-tunnel grating electrodes, achieving 185.4 W/(m3·Hz) power density. They demonstrate a self-powered ocean sensing system for water quality monitoring and wireless communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycled aggregate (RA), as a backfill subgrade material, has strong reproducibility and environmental protection, which cannot only effectively reduce resource consumption and environmental pollution but also achieve recycling of resources. Therefore, a study on the bending fatigue performance of RA backfill subgrade is proposed. Based on linear elastic state, softening state, and damage accumulation state, the variation law of bending fatigue damage variables is analyzed, and the stiffness of RA under cyclic load is calculated. According to the correlation between fatigue damage corresponding to two different load links and the constitutive relationship of RA, the identification results of bending fatigue damage state based on RA backfilling subgrade is obtained. The advantages of the fatigue damage model of RA are analyzed, and the fatigue life equation is established based on the damage evolution equation. Strain, stiffness modulus, asphalt saturation, and asphalt mixture adjustment coefficient are selected as model parameters to establish the fatigue damage model of RA. The flexural bearing capacity of the double-reinforced rectangular section is calculated, and the flexural fatigue performance of RA backfill subgrade is analyzed. The test results show that the high stress level in this method leads to a sharp decline in the fatigue life of the specimen, and the influence of fatigue damage gradually appears, which is helpful to improve the durability and safety of the subgrade structure. The range of change shows a small range, which is close to the reduction coefficient result, indicating that this method has high reliability in analyzing the bending fatigue performance of RA backfill subgrade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between tax policy and environment is a hot topic of widespread concern. Clarifying the mechanism between them is of great significance to promote the coordinated development of economy and environment. This study constructs a theoretical framework based on the multi-sector model of general equilibrium theory to investigate the effect of tax competition on environmental pollution. It is theoretically supported that such an effect exists and is affected by environmental protection investment (EI), that is, there is a threshold effect derived from EI. The theoretical finding is confirmed by an empirical study employing the spatial panel threshold model and using China's provincial panel data from 2007 to 2019. The empirical result shows that the threshold effect of EI is significant since that lower tax competition (i.e., higher tax collection and management efficiency) tends to reduce environmental pollution when EI is below the threshold value and vice versa. In addition, we find that the effect of tax competition is regionally heterogeneous. Finally, several policy recommendations are proposed based on the theoretical and empirical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to protect and sustain environmental resources for future generation remains sacrosanct in global sustainability agenda. This study was aimed at exploring the interplay between environmental conservation and spirituality from a multicultural perspective. While studies on "spirituality" have monumentally gained global attention, a growing number of evidence underscore the critical role of spiritual resources available for ensuring environmental stewardship. In this present study, attempt was made to respond to some critical questions: Is there any significant association between spirituality and environmental responsibility? What is the impact of spiritual leadership on environmental conservation? What key messages do spiritual leaders need to prioritize to encourage environmental conservation? And what are some of the spirituality-related predictors of willingness to engage in global environmental conservation efforts among the respondents? To determine this nexus between spirituality and environmentalism, a cross-sectional study design was adopted. Primary data were collected by means of a validated and adapted instrument from various literature searches. Data collected from a sample of 1,438 respondents were entered on Excel spreadsheet and eventually exported on SPSS version 21 for further analysis. Every segment of the instrument used yielded a Cronbach's alpha reliability test result of no less than 0.70. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistics regression analysis were employed. The findings revealed that majority of respondents expressed a high level of spirituality (p value < 0.05). Majority (70%) of the respondents believe that everyone has a duty of care toward nature. More than two-third (> 60.0%) would be more inclined to observing environmental conservative measures if their spiritual leaders would continue to give exemplary teachings on environmental conservation. While a few indicators of spirituality yielded direct correlation with the willingness to engage in global environmental conservation efforts, most of the selected indicators reflect willingness. Some of these (predictors) include how often respondents pray, meditate, and fast; caring about people, animals, and the planet; being just happy to be alive; etc. In conclusion, this study reasoned that spirituality could indeed serve as a foundation for environmental conservation campaigns and could reinforce pro-environmental behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Taihangshan-Yanshan region (TYR) is an important ecological barrier area for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and the effectiveness of its ecological restoration and protection is of great significance to the ecological security pattern of North China. Based on the FVC data from 2000 to 2021, residual analysis, parametric optimal geodetector technique (OPGD) and multi-scale geographically weighted regression analysis (MGWR) were used to clarify the the multivariate driving mechanism of the evolution of FVC in the TYR. Results show that: (1) FVC changes in the TYR show a slowly fluctuating upward trend, with an average growth rate of 0.02/10a, and a spatial pattern of "high in the northwest and low in the southeast"; more than half of the FVC increased during the 22-year period. (2) The results of residual analysis showed that the effects of temperature and precipitation on FVC were very limited, and a considerable proportion (80.80% and 76.78%) of the improved and degraded areas were influenced by other factors. (3) The results of OPGD showed that the main influencing factors of the spatial differentiation of FVC included evapotranspiration, surface temperature, land use type, nighttime light intensity, soil type, and vegetation type (q > 0.2); The explanatory rates of the two-factor interactions were greater than those of the single factor, which showed either nonlinear enhancement or bifactorial enhancement, among which, the interaction of evapotranspiration with mean air and surface temperature has the strongest effect on the spatial and temporal evolution of FVC (q = 0.75). Surface temperature between 4.98 and 10.4 °C, evapotranspiration between 638 and 762 mm/a, and nighttime light between 1.96 and 7.78 lm/m2 favoured an increase in vegetation cover, and vegetation developed on lysimetric soils was more inclined to be of high cover. (4) The correlation between each variable and FVC showed different performance, GDP, elevation, slope and FVC showed significant positive correlation in most regions, while population size, urban population proportion, GDP proportion of primary and secondary industries, and nighttime light intensity all showed negative correlation with FVC to different degrees. The results can provide data for formulating regional environmental protection and restoration policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: An overview of advanced materials for NH3 capture from the aspects of interaction sites and transport pathways is presented. The classifications, working principles, design ideas and structure–property relationships on materials for NH3 capture are discussed in detail. The challenges and encouraging outlooks with worthwhile directions for NH3 capture are proposed. Ammonia (NH3) is a carbon-free, hydrogen-rich chemical related to global food safety, clean energy, and environmental protection. As an essential technology for meeting the requirements raised by such issues, NH3 capture has been intensively explored by researchers in both fundamental and applied fields. The four typical methods used are (1) solvent absorption by ionic liquids and their derivatives, (2) adsorption by porous solids, (3) ab-adsorption by porous liquids, and (4) membrane separation. Rooted in the development of advanced materials for NH3 capture, we conducted a coherent review of the design of different materials, mainly in the past 5 years, their interactions with NH3 molecules and construction of transport pathways, as well as the structure–property relationship, with specific examples discussed. Finally, the challenges in current research and future worthwhile directions for NH3 capture materials are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The residue of atrazine in field soils poses a major threat to crop growth in the rotation system, raising concerns about grain security and food safety. Current agricultural production requires more efficient and cost-effective mitigation measures in response to the emerging threat. This study reported the critical concentration (0.1 mg L−1) of atrazine injury to soybean seedlings in soil pore water and how biochar amendment could influence the distribution of atrazine in different soil environments. The results showed that biochar significantly reduced the concentration of atrazine in soil pore water, for example, 0.5% biochar in red (cinnamon, fluvo-aquic, paddy, black) soil reduced atrazine concentration from 0.31 (0.20, 0.18, 0.12, 0.03) mg L−1 to 0.004 (0.002, 0.005, 0.013, 0.011) mg L−1 in pore water (P < 0.01). On the basis of these, a reliable mathematical model was developed to predict the atrazine concentration in soil pore water under (or without) biochar amendment conditions. The verification results showed that the mean absolute percentage error of the model was 14.1%, indicating that the prediction error was within a reasonable range. Our work provides a precise solution to crop injury caused by soil residual herbicides with the aid of biochar, which reduces the bioavailability of atrazine in soybean seedlings. This method not only maximizes the use of biochar but also provides effective crop protection and environmental benefits. Highlights: The critical value of atrazine injury to soybean seedlings in soil pore water was 0.1 mg L−1. Biochar amendment significantly reduced the concentration of atrazine in soil pore water. The distribution of atrazine in soil pore water can be predicted by a mathematical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, the ecosystem and ecological values of green infrastructures in forests and urban parks have gained broader attention, because plants are providing not only ecosystem services (ESs) but also social, economic, cultural, educational and health services. Since there have not been proper tools for measuring and evaluating the green infrastructures, urban residents especially those who live in industrial and developing cities have neglected the benefits of the green infrastructures. This research with using I-Tree canopy tool (version 7.1) has considered not only the green infrastructures in two urban sites Nahjol-Balaghe and Pardisan parks (approximately 321 hectares) located in Tehran metropolis, but also ESs and economic savings, which will be contributed to air pollution reduction, carbon storage and sequestration, management and reduction of surface runoff. In addition, this study with applying library and survey methods (interviews with, managers, constructors and visitors) inspects the importance of the sites in sustainable development (economic growth, social and cultural factors and environmental protection), energy conservation (contrasting with urban heat effects, briefly), various plant species and dominant species in the study sites. The result show that 94.58 ha of the site is covered with soil and bare grounds, while only 69.08 ha of it is covered with trees/shrubs, therefore this feature has caused surveyed sites have a poor performance in flood control and mitigation of surface runoff. Consequently, this study also consists of management and solutions for using trees, shrubs and other green infrastructures to cover bare grounds, so as to by measuring the extent of green infrastructures and calculating their economic value in providing ESs, having a healthy urban green space in industrial and large cities, as well as sustainable development management, will help people's well-being, and simultaneously protecting the strategies of green infrastructures in metropolises with ecological and environmental challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green technology is the solution to address the dichotomy between environmental conservation and economic growth. How to stimulate the expansion of green technology innovation output is an essential agenda highlighted by firms, governments, and environmental non-governmental organizations. This research investigates the impact of stock liquidity on green technology innovation and its mechanism, using the data of listed new energy green firms in China from 2007 to 2019. The empirical findings reveal that the enhancement of stock liquidity considerably supports the green technology innovation of new energy firms. Whereas expanding R&D investment and decreasing financial risk are two economic mechanisms that stock liquidity promotes green technology innovation of new energy firms. In addition, our study demonstrates that both government subsidies and analyst attention may strengthen the impact of stock liquidity in supporting the green innovation output of new energy enterprises. The conclusion of this article might give reference to green economic development and structural transformation of emerging economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing studies focus on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection and corporate investment behavior due to the economic theory of property rights, while the relationship between IPR protection and site selection behavior remains unclear. Understanding the relationship between IPR protection and the placement of polluting enterprises contributes to environmental protection in practice and expands the classical location theory in light of the growing severity of environmental problems. This study identifies the effect of China's intellectual property rights demonstration city (IPRD) policies on the location choice of polluting enterprises (LCPE). We collect the number of new polluting enterprises in 269 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2013 to measure LCPE. Using the difference-in-differences method based on propensity score matching (PSM-DID), we investigate the main impact, heterogeneous influence, and channel influence of IPRD policies on LCPE. We find that IPRD policies have a substantial negative impact on polluting enterprises' entry into cities, which withstands a series of robustness tests. Our heterogeneity analyses indicate that the impact of IPRD policies on LCPE is more pronounced in private enterprises, heavily polluted cities, and economically developed regions. Furthermore, we find that IPRD policies raise the entry barrier for polluting enterprises by promoting industrial upgrading and talent aggregation. The empirical evidence indicates that appropriate IPR protection discourages polluting enterprises from entering and protecting the environment. In general, by creatively connecting IPRD policies to polluting company behavior, we provide new evidence on the unintended effects of innovation policies on the location of polluting companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is very important to clarify the reservoir damage characteristics and damage characteristics and damage mechanism of tight sandstone gas reservoirs in Jinhua-Zhongtai mountain area of central SiChuan Basin, and put forward the technical countermeasures of "Double protection" drilling fluid to protect the reservoir and the environment, which is very important for the efficient well construction in this area. Through X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, casting thin sections and other testing methods, the mineral composition and microstructure characteristics of the block were analyzed, and the potential damage factors of the reservoir were clarified. Based on the sensitivity evaluation, it was revealed that the overall sensitivity damage of the block was weak. The main damage type was salt-sensitive damage, and the critical salinity was 9472.5 mg/L. On the basis of the environmental protection drilling fluid system used in this block, the surfactant which can effectively prevent gas invasion and reduce surface tension is selected, and the "Double protection" drilling fluid system is constructed. Through comprehensive performance test and reservoir protection performance evaluation, the core permeability damage rate of the optimized drilling fluid system is reduced from 88.77 to 18.66%, and the cuttings recovery rate is increased to more than 66%, and the cuttings expansion rate is reduced to less than 3.2%, which can effectively solve the problem of reservoir damage in drilling in Jinhua-Zhongtai mountain block in central Sichuan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This comprehensive review extensively explores the potential applications of MXenes as versatile materials in the realm of photocatalysis, with a specific focus on their efficacy in mitigating hazardous dyes and CO2 to less harmful and friendly by-products. The review systematically investigates the unique properties that render MXenes well-suited for photocatalytic purposes and provides a thorough examination of their current state of research. It meticulously summarizes the successes and breakthroughs achieved thus far, offering insights into the advancements that have propelled these materials into the spotlight of photocatalytic research. In addition to highlighting achievements, the review critically addresses the challenges and hurdles that impede the full realization of the potential inherent in MXenes. Here, we have also highlighted the stability problem of MXenes and how to overcome this problem for efficient photocatalysis. The mechanism of photocatalysis was also the main theme of this review article and how to overcome the recombination of photogenerated charges. By identifying these challenges, the review serves as a valuable resource for researchers, providing a roadmap for future endeavours to unlock the untapped capabilities of these materials. It serves as a beacon for environmental researchers, offering valuable insights into the pivotal role these materials can play in creating a more environmentally friendly and safe world. Ultimately, this review contributes significantly to the collective knowledge base and will prove instrumental for researchers and professionals dedicated to environmental protection and sustainable living. Highlights: Hazardous effect of pollutants on environment. Properties and synthesis of MXenes. MXenes promising materials for dyes degradation and CO2 reduction. Mechanism of Photocatalysis for dyes degradation and CO2 reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enactment of the Environmental Protection Tax Law was a major event in the process of China's economic and social development. This law has achieved certain results in the first two years since enactment, but there have also been many problems. During the three-year strict pandemic control period, the normal process of Environmental Protection Tax Law implementation was impacted, causing alienation and reducing the quality of implementation. This study empirically reveals the alienation mechanism in the implementation of the Environmental Protection Tax Law by taking 1000 Chinese tax professionals, and randomly divides the sample equally into two parts, utilizing 500 samples for the initial test and another 500 samples for the robustness test. This research shows that pollutant emission monitoring (correlation coefficient is 0.07), preferential tax policies (correlation coefficient is 0.03) and the quality of tax personnel (correlation coefficient is 0.06) are not conducive to realizing the crowding-out effect of the Environmental Protection Tax Law, while preferential tax policies (correlation coefficient is 0.05), information-sharing platforms (correlation coefficient is 0.06) and the quality of tax personnel (correlation coefficient is 0.05) hinder the incentive effect, and the remaining elements passed the correlation coefficient test within certain confidence intervals. Therefore, the implementation of China's Environmental Protection Tax Law should be improved in the following ways: the accuracy of the environmental protection departments' supervision of pollutant emissions as well as the scientificity and rationality of preferential tax policies should be improved, the construction of environmental protection tax information-sharing platforms should be strengthened, and compound tax collection and management talent should be created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household land use decisions in the tropics have a wide range of outcomes and impacts on economic development, environmental conservation, and social development. This study seeks to contribute to this debate by examining the effects of tree planting on poverty alleviation and welfare improvement in Vietnam. We employ a combination of multinomial endogenous treatment effect and propensity score matching, using survey data collected from 239 households in 11 communes in Vietnam's Central Highlands region. We find that households engaged in tree planting can increase their income and alleviate poverty compared to non-engaging households. Specifically, long-term cashew plantations provide early harvests and have proven to be a preferred crop for households dealing with immediate livelihood needs. However, short-term acacia timber crops contribute insignificantly to poverty reduction and may be more suitable for households with greater financial resources. The policy implication underscores the importance of interventions tailored to support impoverished households with urgent livelihood needs. Prioritizing immediate necessities is crucial before households can invest in long-term tree planting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a byproduct of the rapid development of China's economy, the tradeoff between environmental protection and economic growth has become increasingly prominent. Environmental violations, especially repeated environmental violations (REVs), are becoming an increasing concern. Nevertheless, previous studies mainly empirically analyze single and static environmental violations, and there is still a lack of attention paid to clearly defining REVs as well as clarifying their influence on enterprises. In this study, we introduce the concept of REVs and provide a mathematical measurement framework for quantifying them. Moreover, using a sample of Chinese listed companies, we further investigate the role of enterprises' ownership type, geographical location and industry type in the relationship between REVs and enterprises' financial losses. The results show that the average financial loss caused by REVs is significantly higher in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) than in nonstate-owned enterprises (NSOEs) and more intensive in high-pollution than in low-pollution enterprises. Moreover, enterprises operating in eastern China suffer greater losses than those in midwest China. The results also indicate that monetary penalties play a critical role in environmental regulations, while such regulations need to be further improved to address enterprise REVs. This study fills the gaps in the existing research on REVs and sheds light on the importance of environmental protection in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We critically reflect on a conservation project in the Ecuadorian Amazon that was designed to promote biodiversity conservation among lowland indigenous communities involved in eco-tourism initiatives by teaching them how to knit a particular set of local animals. We use interpretive qualitative research and draw on social practice theory to examine the ways that participants' engagement with new knitting in participatory knitting workshops changed the understanding of environmental conservation and social entrepreneurship within an eco-tourism context. Eventually, the intervention pushed participants to adopt new and difficult-to-sustain conservation and entrepreneurial practices. The introduction of these new practices and a focus on a specific list of local species turned animals into commodities and created unsustainable connections with new materials and a disconnect between local and traditional know-how. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional supply chain designer has not considered environmental factors during designing a food supply chain. However, the protection of the environment is one of the most important criteria that should be evaluated according to the world environmental protection regulations. Perishable items are one of the most sensitive products in the food supply chain which have limited shelf life criteria besides other complexity of the typical supply chain. Wastage in this supply chain is more than in other food industries. Wastage in final products means waste in natural sources, fertilizers, etc. Therefore, this wastage has a significant influence on the greenness of the chain. Hence, decreasing the waste of perishable products has a significant influence on total profit and environmental criteria. Two main solutions exist to decrease wastes: (1) improve packaging and (2) optimize planning. To improve packaging an efficient biodegradable nano-silver packaging method has been imported into a mathematical model. To optimize planning, a multi-objective mix-integer mathematical model is developed to maximize total profit and minimize total carbon dioxide emissions from transportation. Moreover, to deal with uncertainty, a set-based robust optimization has been applied. The mathematical model optimizes technical decisions of the supply chain in a three-echelon chain. To show the efficiency and applicability of the proposed method, a case study for protein products has been implemented. The results show that it is possible to reduce carbon emissions without increasing the total cost. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis on nano-silver packaging and its influence on profit and the environment has been prepared that shows using nano-silver have a positive influence on profit and greenness of the chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]