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In this paper we examine whether there are significant gender differences in the adoption of climate‐smart agricultural (CSA) practices in sub‐Saharan Africa. Using individual‐level data from four sites in Kenya, Uganda and Senegal, our empirical analysis provides robust evidence that men have a higher likelihood of adopting high‐return CSA practices including modern chemical fertiliser, improved high‐yielding varieties and drought/pest tolerant livestock practices. In contrast, women tend to have a higher likelihood of adopting low‐risk and low‐return traditional CSA practices such as water harvesting, crop covering, rangeland management and pest management. Our subsample analysis shows significant heterogeneity in the gender gap across countries. The results of the decomposition of the observed gender gap show that personal values and norms, access to weather and production information and farm characteristics are important factors that explain the gender differential in the likelihood of CSA adoption. Our findings imply that equalising access to key resources such as plots of land, information and decision making power will be crucial to close the gender gap in the adoption of CSA practices. This is particularly important given the differential impacts of climate change between men and women in sub‐Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governments and policymakers worldwide have been setting targets to achieve an ambitious net‐zero emission target by 2050 to tackle the pressing issue of climate change. However, achieving the net‐zero emission target by 2050 depends on the factors determining the transition from traditional fossil fuel energy sources to renewables. In connection with this, policymakers have emphasised the need to transition from a linear to a circular economy. In this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of the progress towards a circular economy in reducing CO2 emissions and promoting environmental sustainability. To do so, we use annual historical data for a panel of 29 European countries from 2000 to 2020. Using an identification strategy that adopts heteroscedastic‐based instrumental variables and addresses endogeneity issues, we find that progress towards a circular economy significantly improves environmental quality via reducing CO2 emissions. Our findings suggest that business strategies promoting recycling and circular economy practices play an important role in environmental sustainability by reducing emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We investigate the link between investment in renewable energy technologies on environmental quality. • Our methodological approach utilises an interactive-fixed effects model to deal with endogeneity issues. • Our findings show that R&D investment in renewables has a significant positive effect on environmental quality. In this paper, we investigate the impact of public investment in R&D in renewable energy technologies on environmental quality using a spectrum of environmental emissions. We employ new and innovative panel data methods to address the existing econometric issues in estimating the effect of R&D on greenhouse gas emissions. Then, using data from advanced and emerging economies that span the period from 1980 to 2020, we find that R&D investment in renewable technologies has a significant positive effect on environmental quality by reducing a range of pollutants, including carbon dioxide, methane, and other pollutants. The results are robust to a series of sensitivity tests. The findings have important policy implications for climate change and various recent environmental initiatives, including the transition to net-zero emissions and sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]