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This study is intended to expose the connectedness of green financing and other green policies like renewable energy and technological progress towards identifying the best practice to achieve climate goal cum sustainable environmental development for China within the period 1985–2021. Amid the increased utilization of fossil fuels in China's economic activities and its position as the highest carbon emitting country in the world, China is considered a financial stable economy with access to renewable energy source such as hydroelectric power. For effective research into the objective of this study, the study builds on mechanism of the green finance—renewable—technology and emission nexus with the help of linear dynamics of ARDL bound and VECM granger causality methods. Empirical results from both approaches have given insight to the selected objectives of this study. According to ARDL dynamics: (i) the coefficients of linear (1.802) and non-linear(− 1.860) (i.e. square term) of financial development are positively and negatively connected to the carbon emissions. This confirms the presence of inverted U-shape relationship between the financial development and carbon emissions. (ii) the relationship between hydroelectric power representing renewable energy and CO2 is negative—(− 0.19) and significant at 1% level. This results depicts the reduction power of hydroelectric power on CO2, (iii) also, a negative (− 0.000982) linkage between number of patent application representing technological innovation and environmental development through carbon emissions responses is established. Also, findings from VECM granger causality approach back the findings from ARDL through a nexus between the variables of interest (finance, hydroelectric power, and technology and carbon emissions). Findings point to the ability of green financing to reduce carbon emissions if green financing policies are utilized effectively in regulating carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the objective assessment of sport development in socio-economic environments, considering the challenges faced by the industry. These challenges include disparities in regional investments, limited market participation, slow progress towards sports professionalization, and insufficient technological innovations. To tackle these challenges, we suggest implementing an integrated evaluation model that follows the DPSIR (Drivers, Pressures, States, Impacts, Responses) framework and incorporates comprehensive socioeconomic indicators. Subsequently, we utilized the Entropy power method and TOPSIS (Order Preference Technique for Similarity to an Ideal Solution, TOPSIS) analysis to comprehensively assess the progress of competitive sports development in 31 provinces and cities in China. Additionally, we recommended further developments in competitive sports and proposed precise strategies for promoting its growth. The framework and methodology developed in this paper provide an objective and scientifically based set of decision-making guidelines that can be adopted by government agencies and related industries in order to create successful plans that promote the sustainable growth of competitive sport. This is expected to bolster the nation's global influence, enhance social unity, and fuel economic expansion. The findings of this study offer policymakers valuable insights regarding competitive sports and can advance the development of the sports sector in China, thus making it a crucial driver of regional socio-economic progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the new normal period, the trend changes and adjustments of the environment such as international trade, production capacity, labor supply and resource constraints have put forward new requirements for China's industrial development, which have brought new challenges and given new opportunities. In the new normal stage where economic growth continues to decline, industrial growth is still an important support for economic growth. The advancement of industrial technology is the main driving force for improving the total factor productivity of the industrial industry. Therefore, the most important thing to promote industrial growth is to upgrade the level of industrial technology. In response to the above-mentioned problems, this paper analyzed the relationship between industrial technology and industrial output in the new normal environment by using the BP neural network (BPNN) algorithm. The connection between the two has been found, which provided a clear direction for the functional adjustment of economic law. Experimental studies have shown that there is a positive relationship between industrial technological progress and industrial output. When other conditions are the same, and when the non-new normal is selected, industrial output increases by about 0.36% for every 1% increase in industrial technological progress. When choosing to be in the new normal, industrial technological progress has a higher impact on industrial output. For every 1% increase in technological progress, industrial output increases by about 0.39%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blue economy, encompassing sustainable utilization of coastal and oceanic resources, has gained global significance in the context of the developing discourse on economic growth and environmental conservation in ocean-based economies. This article delves into the multifaceted realm of India's fisheries and coastal aquaculture sectors, exploring their status, challenges and prospects through the lens of the 'blue growth' narrative. Various enabling factors, such as technological advancements, governance improvements, market and policy incentives, and investment strategies are discussed that can catalyse a smooth transition of India's marine capture fisheries and aquaculture to align with the blue developmental agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, China 's extensive economic development model has produced a large amount of emissions, which has brought indelible damage to the environment. Green development is of vital importance for China to achieve high-quality development, and it is the core of alleviating environmental problems and promoting sustainable development. How to achieve China 's green development requires us to evaluate the level of green development in China 's provinces and analyze the reasons. In this study, an evaluation index system including undesired output of green development efficiency is constructed, and then the Supe-SBM model is used to assess the green development efficiency of 30 Chinese provinces. This paper also discusses the spatial and temporal differences as well as the factors affecting green development efficiency of green development efficiency among provinces. The findings demonstrate: (1) The green development efficiency in the eastern region is the highest, followed by the western region, while the central region has the lowest, but they all show a downward trend. (2) The spatial characteristics of green development efficiency are remarkable, according to the Global Moran's I index. However, the results of local spatial agglomeration demonstrate "small agglomeration and large dispersion," with the majority of provinces exhibiting L-L agglomeration. (3) Technological Progress, Opening Up, Urbanization Level are positively correlated with the green development efficiency. Industrial Structure, Financial Development, Energy Structure and green development efficiency are significantly negatively correlated, while Environmental Regulation shows no significant impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growth of global population and economic development, people are facing the problem of increasing scarcity of renewable energy and unsustainable energy use. To achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations, research on energy consumption efficiency has become particularly important. This research evaluates the energy consumption efficiency of 270 cities in China through an improved EBM model and finds a common phenomenon of low energy consumption efficiency in the cities, with the highest efficiency in northeast China and the lowest efficiency in eastern China. In addition, the efficiency of industrial exhaust emissions most significantly positively correlates with the efficiency of employed population and total energy consumption efficiency, while the efficiency of regional GDP does not significantly correlate with the efficiency of the two input variables. Using the LMDI method to decompose the driving factors of energy consumption efficiency in the cities, we find that the most important factor affecting energy consumption efficiency is their own energy endowment. Therefore, to improve the energy consumption efficiency of its cities, the China government should comprehensively consider factors such as regional economic development level, industrial structure, and technological level differences, formulate relevant energy-saving and emission-reduction policies, focus on optimizing the energy consumption structure, encourage technological progress and innovation, and help increase investment in science and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution control is one of the key manifestations of driving high-quality economic development. Whether different factor-biased technological progress is conducive to the reduction of environmental pollution and what role environmental regulation plays in it deserve further investigation. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2020, this study adopted the stochastic frontier model to measure the index of biased technological progress and used the spatial Durbin model to investigate the spatial spillover effects of labor-energy-biased technological progress and capital-energy-biased technological progress on environmental pollution, as well as the moderating effect of environmental regulation. The results showed that: (J) From 2005 to 2020, China's technological progress as a whole was biased towards the use of capital, energy, and labor conservation and was shifting towards energy conservation. © Biased technological progress could directly reduce local environmental pollution and indirectly improve the environmental quality of neighboring areas, with spatial spillover effects on the impact of environmental pollution. Among them, labor-energy-biased technological progress had a significant negative impact on local environmental pollution, and capital-energy-biased technological progress had an inhibitory effect on the environmental pollution of both local and neighboring areas and could effectively improve ' local-neighboring ' environmental quality. © Environmental regulation played a significant positive moderating effect on environmental pollution in the impact of capital-energy-biased technological progress, enhanced the inhibiting effect of capital-energy-biased technological progress on the environmental pollution of local and neighboring areas, and the two showed better adaptability, inducing technological progress to be biased towards energy conservation and stimulating the development of ' local-neighboring' environmental quality. ® Biased technological progress inhibited environmental pollution in both coastal and inland areas, but the inhibition effect was better in coastal areas than inland areas. Environmental regulation in coastal areas had a stronger moderating effect on the pollution abatement effect of biased technological progress than that in inland areas, and it was easier to induce technological progress in coastal areas to favor energy conservation to reduce environmental pollution. To enhance the pollution abatement effect of biased technological progress, it is necessary to increase the research and development of green technology innovation, encourage enterprises to adopt clean technology production, formulate reasonable environmental regulation policies, pay attention to the appropriateness of the direction of technological progress, and establish a regional cooperative mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in India's carbon emissions and the decline in its environmental quality are a threat to the realization of the global sustainable development goals (SDGs). Minimizing the negative environmental impacts from fossil fuels through analysis of the determinants of India's ecological quality is an important research topic. The objective of this study is to examine the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT), renewable energy, and structural changes on environmental quality in India. In this context, the study uses the novel Fourier quantile causality test for the period 1995m1-2021m12. The results of the study show that structural changes have no impact on carbon footprint and load capacity factor, while renewable energy and ICT contribute to the improvement of environmental quality. Based on the findings of the study, the Indian government is recommended to rise investment in ICT and renewable energy to pursue a growth strategy in line with the SDGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to a growing number of environmental issues, including global warming, water scarcity, and fossil fuel depletion, the topic of modern materials in energy is becoming crucial for our civilization. The technological advancements that have been observed bring many innovations that significantly impact how energy can be generated, stored, and distributed. Moreover, new opportunities have emerged in energy and materials engineering due to the increasing computational capability of current data processing systems. Methods that are highly demanding, time-consuming, and difficult to apply may now be considered when developing complete and sophisticated models in many areas of science and technology. Combining computational methods and AI algorithms allows for multi-threaded analyses solving advanced and interdisciplinary problems. Therefore, knowledge and experience in this subject, as well as the investigation of new, more efficient, and environmentally friendly solutions, currently represent one of the main directions of scientific research. The Special Issue "Advances in Materials: Modelling Challenges and Technological Progress for Green Engineering and Sustainable Development" aims to bring together research on material advances, focusing on modelling challenges and technological progress (mainly for green engineering and sustainable development). Original research studies, review articles, and short communications are welcome, especially those focusing on (but not limited to) artificial intelligence, other computational methods, and state-of-the-art technological concepts related to the listed keywords within energy and materials engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around the world, the green economy is seen as a practical way to achieve sustainability. New research using data from the African nations' nexus of institutional quality and technological innovation on renewable energy. This research aims to shed light on how institutional quality spending promotes green technological innovation expansion and institutional quality in the African nations. Therefore, this study examined the effects of technological innovation, established value, renewable energy, vestige oil energy, and financial development on CO2 releases in 24 African nations between 2001 and 2019. A second-generation panel approach was utilized to examine the interdependencies between the variables across time. These methods accounted for heterogeneity and the possible of remaining cross-sectional dependence. Empirical data from the Commonly Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) estimate and the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimator suggests that using eco-friendly technical advancement and renewable energy sources significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions. But there are several variables linked to rising CO2 emissions, such as improved institutional frameworks, thriving economies, and a preference for fossil fuels over renewable energy. Based on these findings, we concluded that for African countries to achieve their sustainable development objectives, they need to increase their investment in environmentally friendly technological advances and renewable energy sources. • Green economy key to sustainability worldwide. • Research examines African nations' innovation on renewable energy. • Eco-friendly tech and renewables reduce CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The region's natural resources have been significantly depleted due to the accelerating speed of technological development and rising energy demand. Investigating the connection between these variables and how they affect natural resource management is vital. The combined effects of energy consumption and technological innovation on the management of natural resources in the growing Asian area are examined in this research. The research uses the panel and ARDL models to analyse the data gathered from emerging Asian nations between 2000 and 2020 to achieve this goal. The panel model enables the analysis of the individual and collective impacts of energy use and technological advancement on managing natural resources. The long‐term link between these factors is investigated using the ARDL model. The findings show that the management of natural resources is significantly impacted by both technical innovation and energy use. The panel model's findings indicate that although energy consumption has a detrimental influence on natural resource management, technological innovation has a favourable impact. Additionally, the outcomes of the ARDL model demonstrate that these factors have a long‐term association. The research also reveals that technological innovation's impact on managing natural resources becomes increasingly apparent with time. The study's main finding is that effective natural resource management requires politicians in the growing Asian area to implement sustainable development methods that encourage technological innovation and cut energy use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting agricultural green development is not only an effective approach to rural revitalization, but also an internal requirement for enabling agricultural modernization. The improvement of agricultural human capital determines the level of agricultural green development. This study first constructed the rural labor coefficient of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021 and analyzed the overall situation of rural human capital. Then, by using the super-efficiency SBM method, this study constructed a GM index to measure agricultural green total factor productivity and its decomposition index. The study also analyzed the level distribution and regional differences of agricultural green total factor productivity in China. Finally, the study carried out an empirical analysis combining with the rural labor coefficient and the agricultural green total factor productivity index. The results showed that: ① The rural aging coefficient of China increased by 0.063 from 2011 to 2021, and the persistent issue of rural aging continuously impacted the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas. ② Agricultural green total factor productivity in China was predominantly above 1 from 2011 to 2020, indicating a good trend of agricultural green development, and the main driver of this growth was the progress of agricultural green technology. ③ The aging of rural human capital structure significantly inhibited the improvement of agricultural green total factor productivity, and after a series of robustness tests, this conclusion was still valid. Mechanism analysis showed that progress in innovation level played a partial mediating role in the above relationship. The heterogeneity analysis showed that in areas with low education levels and western China, rural population aging had a significant inhibitory effect on agricultural green total factor productivity. However, in areas with high education level and eastern and western China, the impact of rural population aging on agricultural green total factor productivity was not significant. Compared with areas with low environmental regulation intensity, rural population aging in areas with high environmental regulation intensity had a more obvious inhibitory effect on agricultural green total factor productivity. Based on the above conclusions, this study puts forward policy suggestions from three aspects: talent construction, industry integration, and system reform. The research results provide certain empirical foundation for understanding the relationship between rural aging and agricultural green total factor productivity and have certain policy implications for addressing the issue of rural aging, the comprehensive realization of rural revitalization, and the coordination between agricultural and rural green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental governance performance plays an important role in promoting green development and achieving China' s goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. This study used the SBM model based on undesired output to measure the environmental governance performance of China' s eight comprehensive economic zones in the past decade. At the same time, the spatial and temporal differences in environmental governance performance were measured by kernel density estimation and the Dagum' s Gini coefficient, and the spatial and temporal distribution of environmental governance performance was discussed. On this basis, the Malmquist index model was used to study the impact of technological progress, scale efficiency, and pure technical efficiency on environmental governance performance. The research found that: ① The overall environmental governance performance of China' s eight comprehensive economic zones showed a fluctuating upward trend. However, there were significant differences in the level of environmental governance performance between different regions or within each region. ② The environmental governance performance of China' s eight comprehensive economic zones had an obvious gradient effect; the degree of polarization of environmental governance performance was reduced; and there were dynamic convergence characteristics. ③ The overall difference in environmental governance performance in China' s eight comprehensive economic zones showed a fluctuating downward trend. The main difference contribution rate came from inter-regional differences and overlapping, and the contribution rate of intra-regional differences was relatively low. ④ Technological progress was the main factor affecting the improvement of environmental governance performance in various regions; scale efficiency had a certain degree of inhibitory effect on the improvement of environmental governance performance, and pure technical efficiency had a certain degree of promoting effect on the improvement of environmental governance performance. Based on the above research conclusions, policy suggestions are put forward to appropriately adjust the investment in environmental pollution control, strengthen the technological innovation ability of environmental governance, and consider the scale efficiency of regional governance according to local conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to accelerate the healthy and sustainable development of deep-sea aquaculture in China and promote the spatial expansion of mariculture and the transformation and upgrading of marine fishery industry, the article expounds the current status of deep-sea aquaculture facilities, and equipment as well as technology in China and lists the latest technical progress and typical facilities of the main types of deep-sea aquaculture including gravity cages, truss-type cages and aquaculture vessels etc. Then in response to the technical requirements for the construction of deep-sea aquaculture system, the article clarifies the progress and development trend of science and technology innovation at home and abroad in the areas of breed cultivation, fry production, aquaculture facilities, and production management equipment, etc. The article further dissects the main problems existing at present, such as lack of good breeds, insufficient integration of disciplines, technical immaturity of facilities and equipment, as well as lack of standardization in design and construction based on the analysis on how to realize the sustainable and healthy development of deep-sea aquaculture in China. Last but not least, the key technical breakthroughs in species, facilities and equipment, and industrial chain are proposed to achieve safety, quantity and quality breeding, as well as deeper and farther deep-sea aquaculture in China, with the aim to provide reference for accelerating the sustainable development of deep-sea aquaculture in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the dual goals of achieving carbon peak and carbon neutralization, it is of great practical significance to explore the impact of product information labeling on technological innovation. As an essential element in improving energy performance in consumer products, energy-efficiency labels (EEL) have played a vital role in the government's portfolio of energy-efficiency improvement, technological progress, and carbon emission mitigation. We estimate the extent of the inductive effects of varying patent types on the relationship between the EEL system and technological innovation in a panel differences-indifferences framework based on the panel data of energy-saving patents and electricity-saving patents from 1998 to 2013 in China. Results indicate that the EEL system helps firms improve the ratio of energy-saving and electricity-saving patents to water-saving patents, and the rate of energy-saving and electricity-saving patents to all patents in the region. In another word, the EEL has a significant directed technological inducing effect. As for the role of the heterogeneity of patent types, the positive effects of the EEL system on invention patents are significantly suppressed in patent-for-utility models. Thus, it is suggested to improve the existing EEL system, gradually expand the product coverage of the EEL system, and increase the protection scope of utility model patents for achieving technological progress and sustainable development of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper models the relationship between economic development and environmental progress. It investigates the relationship between investment in innovation and uncontained emissions in the selected Russian regions from 2013 to 2018. The database contains information for 72 locations and is comprised of 432 observations (panel data, 72 regions multiplied by 6 years). Random-effects regression models have been applied to analyze panel data. In a study of 72 Russian regions over the period of 2013-2018, this research demonstrates that the growing research and development (R&D) intensity of regional firms leads to a larger ecological footprint and growing emission intensity. These effects are negatively moderated by the per capita income of the region's residents and regional enrollment in higher education. The effects are positively moderated by the export intensity of regional firms. The results suggest that economic and ecological aspects of sustainable development are at odds with each other and indicate that regional policymakers should account for the negative ecological externalities of economic development when devising policies aiming to facilitate regional growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to better reflect the regional sustainable development capacity, we take the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as the research region, and a set of emergy ecological footprint model, which is based on energy flow combined with remote sensing technology, is applied to accurately evaluate the evolution of emergy carrying capacity, emergy ecological footprint and environmental pressure in this region. In addition, we also use the decoupling model and Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) decomposition model to further reveal the impact degree and mechanism of economic growth mode on environmental pressure. Results show that: 1) the environmental pressure of the GBA has tripled over the past 25 years, and the ecological security level has gradually changed from sub-security to slight insecurity on the regional scale. 2) On the urban scale, Zhuhai has the lowest environmental pressure among the 11 cities, and its ecological environment has been kept in the status of security during the study period. While Foshan has a high environmental pressure, and the status of ecological environment has even deteriorated from severe insecurity to extreme insecurity. Besides, the greatest difference of ecological security level is occurred in Huizhou, which has changed from security to slight insecurity. 3) The evolution of ecological security level is closely related to the changes of industrial structure and energy structure, while the relationship with economic growth has experienced a process from weak decoupling to expansive negative decoupling, then to weak decoupling and finally to strong decoupling. It can be seen that the effect of environmental pressure is gradually weakened by economic growth, which is mainly due to the population effect caused by the decline of population density and the technology effect brought by the technological progress. Consequently, the sustainable development level of the GBA can be effectively improved by reasonably controlling the expansion of construction land, vigorously developing science and technology, releasing population pressure, and seeking the maximization of economic, social and ecological benefits in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerating the formation of a green dual-circulation pattern is an essential strategic choice for China to achieve high-quality development. As a vital link for two-way economic and trade cooperation, the pilot free trade zone (PFTZ) is an important window for promoting green dual-circulation development. From the perspective of green dual-circulation, this paper attempts to construct a comprehensive index system of green dual-circulation by entropy weight method based on Chinese provincial panel data from 2007 to 2020 and uses the Propensity Score Matching–Difference in Differences method to test the policy impact of PFTZ building on regional green dual-circulation. The empirical results show that: (1) the establishment of PFTZs significantly promotes regional green dual-circulation development by 3%-4%. This policy effect has a strong positive impact on the eastern regions; (2) PFTZs can improve regional green dual circulation through the effect of green finance, technological progress, and the agglomeration of innovative talents. The mediating effect of green finance and technological progress is more pronounced; (3) The promotion effect of PFTZs is primarily due to the local green circulation effect, with no significant effects on the surrounding areas; and (4) There is a positive policy linkage effect between PFTZs and the Belt and Road Initiative. This study creates the analytical perspective and empirical support for assessing the policy impact of PFTZs and provides management insights for PFTZ policymakers in promoting green dual-circulation development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oil and gas industry is an important basic energy industry in China, and its development is closely related to the improvement of comprehensive national power and quality of life. However, it is also a high energy consumption and high pollution industry, and the continuous input of various energy sources is often accompanied by damage to the surrounding environment. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the energy eco-efficiency of oil and gas enterprises for sustainable economic and social development. Based on both static and dynamic perspectives, this paper measures the energy eco-efficiency of 60 listed oil and gas resource-based companies from 2011-2019 using the SBM model and the Malmquist-Luenberger (ML) index model. The Tobit model is constructed to explore the influencing factors of energy eco-efficiency. The results show that the energy eco-efficiency of oil and gas resource-based enterprises shows a trend of rising and then falling, and there is much room for improvement. Among them, the energy eco-efficiency in the western region is basically consistent with the national average; technological progress has a greater impact on the energy eco-efficiency efficiency of oil and gas resource-based enterprises, while the role of technical efficiency is not significant; economic development, enterprise scale and technological innovation are positively and significantly related to energy eco-efficiency, however, energy consumption is negatively related to energy eco-efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) era also known as digital age is central to the advancement of the construction industry as the industry is currently facing a myriad of challenges, including poor productivity and project failure. Therefore, there is an urgent need for industry to adopt 4IR innovations to increase the building business's performance. The study explored the relationship between the critical barriers to 4IR innovations to foster sustainable development. The study embraced a numerical exploration approach which employed a questionnaire to obtain information from building industry experts. The questionnaire data were used to classify the 4IR barriers into policy and structure, readiness, and acquisition, using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). Likewise, a predictive model was developed using Structural Equation Modelling-Partial Least Square (SEM-PLS). It explained the relationship between the barrier categories and the barriers to 4IR innovation adoption for sustainable development. The results showed that policy and structure were critical components of 4IR adoption that the stakeholders of the construction industry must pay close attention to. The study also provided valuable areas for future research to enhance 4IR innovation adoption for sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the main means to dovetail the domestic system with international rules, institutional openness is the key to deepening participation in the global economic governance system, breaking through energy and carbon emission constraints, and achieving green and sustainable economic development. Taking 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019 as the research sample, this paper uses the establishment of Pilot Free Trade Zones as a quasi-natural experiment to systematically identify and test the actual impact of institutional openness on urban carbon emissions in China through the asymptotic difference in difference method, instrumental variables method, spatial econometric model, and mediating effects model. Meanwhile, technological progress is used as the entry point to analyze the intrinsic mechanism of action by adopting digital transformation oriented to efficiency improvement and green innovation capability oriented to R&D innovation as the differentiated perspective. It is found that institutional openness significantly suppresses urban CO2 emissions, and there is a certain heterogeneity and spatial spillover effect of this effect. Further study finds that institutional openness achieves carbon emission reduction through technological progress. The study aims to find new institutional innovation and development paths for low carbon development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the notion of sustainable development in corporate organizations and argues that businesses' adoption of systems/standards to support their sustainable development practices improves employee health and well-being in significant ways. Additionally, the paper analyses the effect of continual or progressive stress that employees face due to their job obligations, circumstances, surroundings, or other workplace pressures and how this affects the organization's sustainability. Given the growing importance of occupational stress due to technological innovations and global economic progress, it has developed into a worldwide sustainability concern, affecting professionals and all types of employees. Additionally, this study proposes a framework for implementing an integrated management systems (IMS) approach centered on the iterative implementation of sustainable development practices to promote employee health and well-being and minimize workplace demands. Further, the significance of studies exploring the relationship between a company's sustainable development policies, its employees' health, and well-being are explored, and future research direction was discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economic development is characterized by openness, and trade and investment are important engines for promoting economic development. China's economy is now in a transitional period, during which excessive carbon emission reduction would inevitably hinder economic development. In this context, improving carbon emission efficiency is an effective way to achieve sustainable development. This paper deals with the relationships among foreign direct investment, technological innovation and carbon emission efficiency. Our research findings include the following. First, carbon efficiency shows regional differences. East China has the highest mean value of carbon emission efficiency, followed by central China and west China over the sample period. Second, FDI exerts both direct and indirect impacts on carbon emission efficiency through technological innovation, which confirms the intermediate effect of technological innovation. Finally, sub-sample analysis indicates that the impact of FDI and technological innovation on carbon emission efficiency show regional heterogeneity. According to these findings, we offer policy recommendations as follows. The government should stimulate independent innovation, promote technological progress in renewable energy and green energy, and attract environmentally friendly foreign investment to improve carbon emission efficiency and boost green development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marginal abatement cost of CO2 emissions can reflect the relationship between environmental quality and economic growth. It is not only the scientific basis of climate policy-making but also the key factor to achieving the dual goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality. Based on three behavior patterns of the directional distance function, this study constructed three calculation methods of the marginal abatement cost of CO2 emissions, measured the three kinds of marginal abatement cost of CO2 emissions of 30 provinces (excluding Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) in China from 1998 to 2019, and analyzed them from the national, regional, and provincial levels. Furthermore, this study constructed the theoretical framework of the impact mechanism of the marginal abatement cost of CO2 emissions from the perspectives of emission reduction space and technological progress and carried out empirical tests. The calculation results showed that: (1) The marginal abatement cost of economic entities from the ' traditional-weak' mode was mostly negative; that from the ' traditional-strong' mode was mostly close to zero; and that from the ' weak-strong' mode was positive. (2) Under the three measurement methods, the marginal abatement cost showed an ' N'-type curve of increase, decrease, and then increase. The regional laws were consistent, which were higher in the central region and lower in the eastern and western regions. And the marginal emission reduction cost of the same kind varied greatly between different regions and provinces. Further analysis of the impact mechanism showed that: ( Emission reduction space and technological progress were the two most important factors affecting the marginal abatement cost of CO2 emissions, which played a leading role successively. (3) Only when there was plenty of room to reduce emissions, the economic actors were in the stage of extensive development, and policies on energy conservation and emission reduction were in the initial stage, could policies on energy conservation and emission reduction reduce the marginal abatement cost. (4) Technological progress appears to be cyclical. China' s green technology is now in the initial growth period of rapid development, and technological investment is in the sunk cost stage. Although the space for emission reduction could force technological progress, technological progress could hardly reduce the cost of emission reduction. Therefore, in the formulation of emission reduction policies, we should pay attention to phased and regional differences; continue to promote and improve the carbon emission trading market; consider the characteristics of ' silent fermentation' in the early stage of technological progress; and coordinate and promote sustainable development when undertaking industries in the central and western regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: This study evaluated the impacts of incentive and disincentive mechanisms in ensuring environmentally friendly livestock waste management, drawing on a survey of 499 pig farmers from China. An assessment framework was developed and empirically tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The findings suggest incentives and disincentives can be effective in ensuring adoption of environmentally friendly livestock waste management practices. However, the disincentive mechanism demonstrated relatively lower interaction values than the incentive mechanism. The survey results indicated that discounts, subsidies, and training provision were the most impactful factors. In summary, the balance and interactions between incentives and disincentives need to be well-planned and managed to strengthen farmers' adoption of environmentally friendly livestock waste management practices. Environmentally friendly waste management (EFWM) is a safer way of waste disposal that can foster a cleaner environment for both farms and their surroundings. It may lessen land, air, and water pollution, as well as moderate ecological footprints, and aid in sustainable agricultural development, which has become one of the major concerns of the modern era. To achieve these outcomes, incentives and control mechanisms initiated by the government may alter farmers' behavior. The study involved a review of relevant literature and the conduct of interviews with 499 pig breeders to evaluate the impacts of government incentives and control mechanisms on fostering the adoption of environmentally friendly waste management practices by farmers. A theoretical framework based on existing studies is proposed, utilizing a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach to analyze the data and illustrate the relationships among incentives and control mechanisms. The results show that: (i) overall the impacts of incentive mechanisms were stronger and more effective than those of control mechanisms. Among them, subsidy policy and discount policy were the most influential for farmers' adoption behavior. However, penalty and disincentive policy also impacted the outcome variables; (ii) a significant relationship was observed among regulatory, disincentive, and subsidy policies and a moderate relationship among penalty, insurance, and discount policies. However, bonus-community service and social critic policies did not show any significant relationship with any other variables. The research findings can assist the Chinese government in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the impacts of two crucial mechanisms and promoting the adoption of environmentally friendly practices by farmers. The government should highlight and strengthen the importance of social obligations and orientation, as well as providing monetary support at the rural level to improve farmers' ability to adapt to environmentally friendly waste management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China's strategic support belt, the green development of industry in the Yangtze River Economic Zone is of great significance to promote the construction of China's ecological civilization, build a modern industrial system and accelerate high-quality economic development. The study of green total factor productivity of industry in the Yangtze River Economic Zone has important theoretical and practical value for exploring the green development path of China's industry. This Paper takes the Yangtze River Economic Zone, a key strategic region in China, as the research object, selects the input and output data of industrial production from 2006 to 2018, based on DEA model. To construct an MML index considering expected and unexpected output, and to quantitatively analyze the changes of industrial GTFP in the Yangtze River Economic Zone. The results show that: (1) During the sample period, the industrial green total factor productivity in the Yangtze River Economic Zone shows the spatial characteristics of differential growth and the temporal characteristics of volatile growth. It shows the fluctuation characteristics of "N" shape. (2) According to the order of "upper, middle, and lower" reaches, the spatial pattern of industrial green total factor productivity is characterized by "lower ladder". But the difference between the upper and middle reaches is small. (3) Cities with higher green total factor productivity and lower green total factor productivity each form the characteristics of "club convergence" of spatial agglomeration. (4) Technological efficiency and technological progress efficiency have heterogeneous effects on different river basins in the upper, middle, and lower reaches, and technological progress efficiency is conducive to promoting the evolution of green total factor productivity to a high level. According to the above empirical results, this paper finally puts forward the policy recommendations to improve the industrial green total factor productivity of the Yangtze River Economic Zone and the policy recommendations to reduce the industrial differences between the Yangtze River Economic Zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does Internet development promote urban green innovation in cities? Previous studies have conducted many useful discus⁃ sions on the relationship between Internet development and urban innovation, but few have provided insights from the perspective of green development. It is well known that the continuous development and popularity of the Internet and other new-generation informa⁃ tion technologies can both promote technological progress and become the key to the transformation of regional economic growth. Start⁃ ing from a patent perspective, this article empirically analyzed the impact of Internet development on the level of green innovation in Chinese cities and its mechanisms of action using a two-way fixed-effects model and a mediating-effects model based on panel data of 285 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2019, based on a systematic review of the impact mechanisms of Internet development and urban green innovation. The results showed that: ① Internet development had a significant promotion effect on urban green innova⁃ tion, and the promotion effect on green invention patents was more obvious compared with green utility model patents. The results re⁃ mained robust after a series of robustness tests, such as endogeneity discussion and replacement variables, to conduct the regression analysis again. ② Further mechanism tests found that Internet development mainly contributed to green innovation by reducing transac⁃ tion costs and improving technology research and development. ③ The results of the heterogeneity analysis showed that, under different geographic locations and city sizes, the promotion effect of Internet development on the level of green innovation in central and western regions and large cities was more significant, while the promotion effect on eastern regions and smaller cities was average. Therefore, in the new era of China' s economic development transformation, we should not only encourage the application of the Internet to a variety of socio-economic fields and promote innovation development with the integration of various industries, but also improve the indepen⁃ dent innovation capability of Internet technology and pay attention to both the exploitation of innovation resources and the quality of in⁃ novations, so as to better tap the regional green innovation potential and improve information technology to achieve long-term and sus⁃ tainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review proposes a performance evaluation system of low-carbon economic development based on multiobjective analysis in low-carbon environment. This is a modeling method combining super efficiency and relaxation-based measurement model (super-SBM model), which can effectively measure green innovation efficiency with unexpected outputs and traditional innovation efficiency without unexpected outputs. Using the Malmquist–Luenberger index method to dynamically analyze the efficiency of green innovation, a multiobjective model is obtained, including economic scheduling target considering wind power cost and low-carbon scheduling target considering carbon trading. The efficiency of green innovation considering unexpected output is obviously lower than that of traditional innovation without considering unexpected output. This phenomenon is more pronounced in some areas of central and western China. Technical efficiency improves the innovation level of environmental protection economy in China and the impact of technological progress is greater than that of technical efficiency. In this review, the output super SBM model is used to study the development of China's low-carbon industry, and the correlation between the prediction model and the performance change of low-carbon economic development is analyzed. The Malmquist–Luenberger (ML) index of environmental protection product development efficiency in China is not less than 1. Due to the improvement of the efficiency of scientific and technological development, the combination of the two will eventually lead to the improvement of the development of green products and environmental economic products in China. Combining with the empirical analysis, this paper puts forward some methods to promote the low-carbon economy in the economic zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we used the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) model in the form of the transcendental logarithmic function to analyze the major grain-producing areas in the Songhua River, Yellow River and Yangtze River basins from 2004 to 2018 under environmental constraints, in order to explore the influencing factors and quality dynamics of agricultural green development in major grain-producing areas based on agricultural green total factor productivity (GTFP) . The results showed that environmental regulation, the proportion of the primary industry, and agricultural financial support had a significantly positive, while environmental pollution and natural disasters a negative effect on the growth of GTFP, respectively. The average growth rate of agricultural GTFP in the three major basins is 3.3 %, and the agricultural green development situation is constantly improving, but the speed of improvement fluctuates significantly in the early stage, followed by amplitude reduction, showing an unbalanced profile among the regions. The Songhua River basin is mainly driven by the increase in technical efficiency, technological progress, and scale efficiency. The Yellow River basin and the Yangtze River basin are driven by technical efficiency and technological progress, respectively. The contribution of scale efficiency and factor allocation efficiency to the two is relatively weak. Therefore, we need to focus on the improvement of green total factor productivity, increase agricultural technological innovation, develop appropriate scale operation, improve regional coordinated development mechanism, and effectively implement environmental regulation policies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standardization in energy-saving and emission-reduction measures has become increasingly important. The impact of standardization on carbon-emission efficiency in China was explored by using panel data from 2002 to 2017. The results showed that standardization significantly improved China's carbon-emission efficiency, which remained robust after a series of tests. Furthermore, the development of industry standards had a greater effect on the improvement of carbon-emission efficiency in the economically developed coastal areas, while the development of national standards significantly promoted the improvement of carbon-emission efficiency in the inland areas. An assessment of the impact mechanism demonstrated that standardization affects carbon-emission efficiency through technological progress, industrial modernization, and economies of scale. We compared our findings with the existing literature regarding the governance of a low-carbon economy; we also considered the subsequent policy implications of our findings in terms of sustainable economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the new normal, digital economy as the core driver of economic development plays an important role in promoting the development of green economy. This article used the entropy method to measure the development level of digital economy from the two dimensions of digital industrialization and industrial digitalization. At the same time, the super-efficiency SBM model with constraints of land and energy elements was proposed to re-measure the efficiency of green economy. Based on China's provincial panel data from 2006 to 2019, this study empirically analyzed the impact of digital economy on the efficiency of green economy. The results showed that: 1 The regional digital economy gap in China was obvious, showing the spatial distribution characteristics of 'eastern region > central region > western region'. 2 Digital economy had significantly promoted the efficiency of green economy, and the conclusion was still robust after a series of tests. Dimensional regression showed that compared with industrial digitalization, digital industrialization had a greater effect on the efficiency of green economy. Subregional regression indicated that there was regional heterogeneity in the influence of digital economy on the efficiency of green economy, which significantly promoted the efficiency of green economy in the eastern and central regions, and the promotion effect on the eastern region was greater than that in the central region, but this effect in the western region did not pass the significance test. 3 Mechanism analysis showed that digital economy and digital industrialization indirectly improved the efficiency of green economy by optimizing the industrial structure, promoting technological innovation and deepening marketization, but industrial digitalization failed to improve the efficiency of green economy through industrial structure, technological innovation and marketization. 4 Threshold test showed that, constrained by the industrial structure, technological innovation and marketization, digital economy had a nonlinear influence on the efficiency of green economy, which changed after passing a certain threshold value and had obvious threshold feature. Therefore, the government should promote the coordinated development of digital economy with the characteristics of regional development to fully release the dividend of digital economy in the development of green economy, continue to promote the optimization and upgrading of the industrial structure, and promote technological progress to realize the development of green economy. In addition, differentiated market strategies should be formulated to promote the development of green economy in a more effective way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of achieving the 'dual carbon' goals of peaking carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, meeting emission reduction targets while ensuring stable economic growth is the economic development model China is seeking now. Therefore, exploring the mechanism of environmental regulation in China's economic growth, especially on technological progress, will help to analyze the mechanism of environmental policy on sustainable economic development. In this article, we used the SBM model to measure the green total factor productivity in the subdivided industries of the manufacturing industry in China from 2003 to 2018, and decomposed technological progress to examine the factor preference characteristics of biased technological progress, and finally used a panel regression model to empirically test the mechanism of environmental regulations on green total factor productivity and technological progress and their decomposition terms. The results showed that: 1 Green total factor productivity in China's manufacturing industry was generally increasing year by year, and technological progress was the main source of its growth. Environmental regulation showed an inverted U shaped relationship with green total factor productivity and technological progress, and the intensity of regulation was currently on the left side of the inflection point, and the increase in environmental regulation intensity helped to promote the growth of green total factor productivity and technological progress in China's manufacturing industry. 2 From the internal influence mechanism of technological progress, the results of biased technological progress factor preferences showed that the characteristics of input-biased technological progress factor preferences changed with the stage of economic development, and output-biased technological progress was more biased toward CO2 output, but it showed an improving trend year by year. The effects of environmental regulations on input-biased technological progress, output-biased technological progress, and scale technological progress were all significant, and the increase in the intensity of environmental regulations helped to enhance input-biased technological progress and reduce output-biased technological progress so as to save the input of production factors and reduce CO2 output. 3 The degree of opening to the outside world, capital intensity, and government subsidies all had positive effects on green total factor productivity and technological progress, and strengthening these factors could help to improve the economic development of the manufacturing industry. The study found that current technological progress had a certain 'carbon lock-in' effect on carbon emissions, and environmental regulations were not effective in reducing coal use. By measuring the current situation of China's manufacturing economy and the effect of environmental regulations, this study provides theoretical support for promoting China's green and high-quality economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facing the new form and situation of the Huaihe Economic Zone, it is of great significance to analyze the sources of growth and the intrinsic mechanism of the green total factor productivity of its economic-ecological system, to grasp the spatial and temporal characteristics of green total factor productivity, and to study the influence of each factor on green total factor productivity to achieve sustainable economic development in the Huaihe Economic Zone. Based on the clarification of economic growth theory, green economy theory, carbon cycle theory, and green total factor productivity theory, this paper identifies and discusses the limitation that the existing research literature often ignores the endogenous role of carbon sinks when measuring green total factor productivity. Then, the green total factor productivity of Huaihe Economic Zone based on carbon cycle from 2004 to 2017 is measured using the superefficient nonradial SBM model. Combined with the GML productivity index, it is decomposed into technical progress and technical efficiency and analyzed in comparison with the green total factor productivity without considering ecological purification capacity (carbon sink) from the perspective of time and space. Finally, the spatial Durbin model is used to analyze the effects of seven variables, including the level of economic development, environmental regulation, R&D level, and openness to the outside world, on green total factor productivity in the Huaihe Economic Zone, and to analyze the direct and indirect effects of each variable on green total factor productivity. TFP based on expected output carbon sink and GDP overall outperforms TFP based on expected output GDP only, mainly because the growth of technical efficiency is underestimated when carbon sink is not considered. Technical efficiency and technological progress are equally important for the growth of TFP in an eco-economic perspective. It is of great practical significance for both the comprehensive understanding of the green total factor productivity level and the improvement path of the ecosystem and the coordinated and sustainable development of the Huaihe Economic Zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon neutrality is the only way for green low-carbon development. Technological progress is an important starting point for improving energy efficiency. Through scientific and technological innovation, improving energy efficiency is a practical way to achieve the goal of carbon neutralization. Due to the limitation of data and index selection, there is no qualitative analysis of carbon neutrality in this paper. Compared with previous studies, the paper has the following contributions: Firstly, the energy efficiency score of China's provincial level is measured with the DEA method and it is found that the average energy efficiency score of the eastern region is the highest, followed by the western region, and finally the central region. The results also show that the energy efficiency is not in accordance with the economic growth. The regions with higher energy efficiency scores are not always economically developed because of huge energy consumption supporting the economic development. Secondly, the Tobit method is used to study the impact of the reverse technology spillover effect of OFDI on China's energy efficiency. The results show that the spillover effect has a significant positive effect on the improvement of China's energy efficiency, and has a positive impact on the eastern and western regions, but has no significant impact on the western region. Finally, we put forward some policy recommendations to increase energy efficiency to approach carbon neutrality and thus promote green economic development. This paper enriches the content of energy economy, the research method is innovative, and the conclusion is more scientific. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The project and construction of the housing complex in Cajueiro Seco, carried out in Recife during 1963 and 1964, garnered significant attention due to its innovative approach, encompassing urban reform, participatory practices, technological progress, and appreciation of regional characteristics. Despite being interrupted by the military coup in 1964, it is still regarded as an unparalleled experience from an architectural perspective, especially within the context of Brazilian modern architecture. Although this project took place before the term "sustainable development" was commonly used, various sustainability aspects can be identified when analyzed through the lens of the sustainability dimensions theory developed by the Polish economist Ignacy Sachs. This study aims to understand these relationships through a qualitative, bibliographical, exploratory, and descriptive approach, with the ultimate goal of highlighting the contributions of this experience to sustainability. The results indicate that several aspects of the project, when viewed through the sustainability lens, can significantly contribute to the concept of Sustainable Development and serve as a reference for more sustainable urban and architectural projects. The study concludes by recognizing that a project of this nature can generate multiple benefits for the involved population, the surrounding community, the local economy, the environment, local culture, and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the intricate relationship between digitalization development and sustainable development, this study commences its analysis by employing the entropy method to establish an integrated indicator of digitalization development among advanced nations. Subsequently, we utilize a panel dataset spanning a decade from 2010 to 2020, encompassing 36 developed countries, to estimate Green Total Factor Productivity (GTFP) growth. We establish a fixed effects model, a mediation effect model and a threshold regression model to explore the relationship between the two variables. The empirical findings of this research reveal a significant positive association between the progress and enhancement of digitalization and the advancement of sustainable development (GTFP). Furthermore, this research elucidates the underlying mechanism by which digitalization development indirectly fosters the advancement of green productivity. This facilitation occurs through the promotion of technological innovation, the enhancement of human capital, and tupgrades in the industrial framework. Notably, our study finds the non-linear relation between digitalization development and GTFP growth, suggesting that the magnitude of impact on environmental performance is contingent on the scale of technological innovation, the growth of human capital, and the level of financial development. • The GTFP and digitalization among OECD countries are investigated; • Digitalization has direct effect on GTFP in OECD countries; • Digitalization has indirect effects on GTFP in OECD countries; • There is nonlinear relationship between GTFP and digitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The improvement of the environmental efficiency in the power industry is crucial in promoting energy conservation and emission reduction to achieve sustainable development. This study constructs a multi-hierarchy meta-frontier BAM model to measure environmental efficiency considering technological and regional heterogeneity. Using this model, we measure and decompose the environmental efficiency of the power industry in 30 Chinese provinces during 2008–2020. The main results are as follows. (1) Beijing and four other provinces have the highest environmental efficiency among the high-technology group, while Jiangsu and Hainan have the highest environmental efficiency among the medium-technology and low-technology groups, respectively. There are significant differences in environmental efficiency among provinces within each technology group. (2) Regional and technical inefficiencies in the high-technology and medium-technology groups are the main factors influencing inefficiency. However, the inefficiency of the low-technology group is 0.36, while technical inefficiency is 0.34. (3) The environmental efficiency of all three technical groups has improved as a result of technological progress. Environmental efficiency improvement is the largest in the high-technology group but only by 1%. This study extends conventional approaches of environmental efficiency assessment and enhances the comprehension of the operation of the power industry in various Chinese provinces. The research outcomes provide insights for formulating more precise and effective strategies towards the sustainable evolution of China's power sector. • The efficiency is measured by the combined model from a new perspective. • The technology, the management, and the regional heterogeneity are studied. • Each efficiency of each province is ranked as follows, RE > TE > ME. • The environmental efficiency improved in all three technical groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the literature predominantly emphasises the crucial role of technological innovation in alleviating resource dependence, limited attention has been given to the pivotal role of capital in driving such innovation. As a critical factor in technological advancements and productivity enhancement, venture capital has a substantial function in the utilisation of resources and the development of sustainable energy sources. Drawing upon panel data from 30 provinces in China, this study explores how venture capital and resource dependence are interrelated. Our research reveals that venture capital effectively mitigates regional resource dependence by facilitating increased investment in innovation channels. However, the weakening of regional human resources mitigates venture capital's diminishing impacts on resource dependence. These findings provide valuable insights for countries seeking to reduce their dependence on natural resources and achieve long-term economic sustainability. • Venture capital effectively mitigates regional resource dependence. • Technological innovation inputs and outputs are the channels. • Human capital plays a moderating role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been proved to be an important engine of green economic development, yet how it will affect the internal structure of green economy is unknown. The aim of this study is to examine the impact and its mechanism of AI on green total factor productivity (GTFP) from the internal-structure perspective, by using provincial panel data of China from 2009 to 2021 and global Malmquist index. The main research results show that: (1) the development of AI contributes to China's GTFP growth. And this effect is more significant in undeveloped areas; (2) AI promotes China's GTFP growth mainly by improving resource allocation efficiency, while it exerts little impact through the paths of technological progress and scale efficiency; (3) the transmission mechanism of AI on GTFP varies greatly among China's three main regions. In the eastern region, AI improves GTFP mainly by both advancing technological progress and improving resource allocation efficiency, while in central region AI contributes to GTFP growth mainly through technological progress. Compared with the eastern and central regions, AI in the western region plays a stronger impact on GTFP through the channel of improving scale efficiency. This study helps to understand the pathways of artificial intelligence affecting the transformation of green economic growth and formulate differentiated regional policies in light of local conditions. • This paper studies the effects of AI on China's GTFP from internal-structural perspective. • GTFP is decomposed into three internal factors by the global Malmquist index. • AI has positive effect on GTFP through different impacts on internal factors. • Improving resource allocation efficiency is the most critical channel of AI on GTFP. • AI plays a more significant role in promoting GTFP in less developed areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As cities face escalating resource and environmental challenges, advancing green economic performance (GEP) emerges as a critical pathway for sustainable urban development. While China's urban new energy transition strategy presents a promising paradigm shift in the realm of green energy, there exists a knowledge gap regarding its tangible impact on green economic grown. Drawing on city-level panel data from 2006 to 2020, this research assesses the GEP of 260 Chinese cities utilizing the non-radial distance function methodology. Subsequently, the difference-in-differences method is applied to offer quasi-experimental insights into the effects of the New Energy Demonstration City (NEDC) policy on urban GEP. Our findings indicate that the NEDC policy has both economically and statistically significant ramifications for urban GEP, leading to an enhancement effect of approximately 2.0 %. This outcome remains consistent even after rigorous robustness checks. A heterogeneity analysis reveals that the NEDC policy exerts a more pronounced influence on the GEP of central, western, and non-resource cities. Mechanism analysis suggests that the positive policy effect is primarily driven by the advancement of technological innovation, industrial upgrading, and green finance development. The NEDC policy holds the potential for a symbiotic balance between environmental and economic outcomes, setting a precedent for urban green growth. • The impacts of New Energy Demonstration City policy are evaluated. • Use the non-radial distance function method to calculate green economy performance. • The NEDC policy improves urban green economy performance by a significant 2.0 %. • Three specific impact mechanisms are proposed and quantitatively analyzed. • The policy impacts vary greatly among cities with different characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of whether environmental regulation fosters technological innovation and green development, as a nuanced extension of the Porter hypothesis, constitutes a focal point in contemporary research. Despite this attention, the literature often omits a multifaceted evaluation framework for green development and fails to consider multiaspectual environmental regulation and technological innovation. This study develops a comprehensive model of green total factor productivity (GTFP), situating the Chinese economy within an economy–environment–health nexus. The extended Crépon–Dugeut–Mairesse model is employed to revisit the "strong", "weak", and "narrow" Porter hypotheses. The analysis reveals that formal environmental regulation exerts a crowding-out effect on research and development (R&D), whereas informal environmental regulation exhibits a facilitating effect, corroborating the narrow version of the Porter hypothesis. Both categories of regulation contribute to substantial innovation. Following the incorporation of R&D factors, heterogeneity in the "weak" Porter hypothesis emerges in the Chinese context, contingent upon specific types of environmental regulation and technological innovation. Environmental regulation positively influences GTFP, affirming the "strong" Porter hypothesis, primarily through the vector of technical progress change. A developmental trajectory to enhance GTFP is thus articulated: judicious environmental regulation leads to R&D, which in turn fosters innovation quality, subsequently affecting the technical progress change index and ultimately GTFP. Correspondingly, policy recommendations are delineated across three dimensions: judicious environmental regulation, targeted innovation support, and regional coordination. [Display omitted] • A GTFP evaluation framework within the economy–environment–health is constructed. • The "strong", "weak" and "narrow" Porter hypotheses are retested by the CDM model. • Multidimensional regulation, innovation, and productivity are investigated. • There are innovation-driven interactions and regional heterogeneity. • Reasonable regulation–R&D–innovation quality–GTC–GTFP is a key development path. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when the rate of technological growth worldwide is accelerating in its various forms (internet, IoT, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital transformation, blockchain, and big data), our institutions and administrative units are experiencing a complex struggle; It is not able to leave its traditional frameworks for a long time, nor is it able to catch up with the advanced technology every day, but perhaps every hour or minute. This dialectic posed an explicit challenge to the state's institutions, and placed it in the eye of the event. The Digital Transformation project will move "institutions from the traditional stage of interaction between citizens and management to a more modern, transparent, and more in line with technological progress in our world today, in which technology is the key to more achievements at a lower cost (make more for less). The research includes four sections. In the first topic, the researcher explains the different concepts of digital transformation, which no matter how many, they have one content, and also reviews the rules of change required for the digital transformation process, as well as a statement of the positive effects and possibilities offered by this transformation to the national economy. In the second topic, the researcher shows the relationship between the digital economy and both development and sustainable development, and the goals of sustainable development 2030. In the third topic, the researcher deals with the future trends of digital transformation and the foundations of the relevant national strategy, and reviews the most important risks that this transformation poses to the security and sovereignty of countries. In the fourth topic, the researcher provides the conclusions and recommendations that the most important of them are: monitoring the necessary investments and funds in the general budget; In order to implement the digital economy strategy and its requirements, and in conclusion, the relevant sources were mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important field for human activities, cities play a critical role in PM2.5 reductions. Among the determinants for PM2.5 concentration, technological progress is considered to exhibit significant inhibitory effects. Although most extant research has focused on energy technologies or total factor productivity, due to limitations in data and methods, few scholars have focused on emission reduction technological changes at a city-level scale. Therefore, based on the combination of k-means clustering and the log-mean Divisia index method, this study estimates and explores the impact of PM2.5 emission reduction technology (PME) on the temporal changes and spatial differences of 262 Chinese cities' PM2.5 concentration during 2003–2017. The findings show the following: (1) although the results based on econometric methods indicate that emission reduction technological changes decreased China's city-level PM2.5 concentration, there were turning points in the yearly impacts, indicating that the improvements to emission reduction efficiency were not stable; (2) compared with PME, energy intensity played a more stable role in PM2.5 emissions reductions, implying that the improvement of energy efficiency was still very important in controlling PM2.5 concentrations; (3) based on the classified groups after clustering, most cities' PME contributed to negative differences, but the PME of a small number of cities was very weak to largely lower the average level of their group; and (4) distributions of the spatial decomposition of the three classified groups were stable in the period of 2003–2017, implying that the catch-up and transcendence effects of PME within the group were limited. Thus, policymakers should focus on the impact of different policies on PME differences between cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable (Green) development has been ever deepening the comprehensive transformation of the social economy at present. The green transformation of cultivated land use (GTCLU) has been one of the key steps towards the modern agriculture. The GTCLU has also been an effective solution to the ecological dilemma of cultivated land use, particularly on a positive response to national development strategies, such as green China and economic transformation. However, such a research is still lacking. In this study, an attempt was made to elucidate the concept of GTCLU, thereby to guide the subsequent activities of cultivated land use for the better improvement of green development. Moreover, the characteristics of GTCLU were also summarized from four aspects: the category of transformation, the causes of transformation, the manifestations of GTCLU, and the evolution form of GTCLU. A green evolution of cultivated land system was then proposed from the perspective of micro production factors, indicating a better starting point for the efficiency of GTCLU in China. As such, the index system of GTCLU was constructed scientifically. Thus, the panel data was collected from the 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2017. A three-stage DEA-Malmquist and Tobit models were also utilized to calculate the efficiency and affecting factors of GTCLU. The results showed that: 1) The initial result of efficiency of GTCLU from the Malmquist model presented a V-shaped trend of “declining first, then increasing”. Specifically, the efficiency value was less than 1, indicating the green transition was invalid in most years. 2) The SFA regression was selected to remove the influence of environmental factors and random errors. After that, the efficiency value of GTCLU was 1.001, indicating an outstanding GTCLU degree. More importantly, the technological progress was greatly contributed to the efficiency improvement. Specifically, the change of technical efficiency, pure technical, and scale efficiency were the main bottlenecks for the efficiency improvement. 3) There were also the outstanding regional differences in the efficiency of GTCLU in China. The central region presented the best relative efficiency, followed by the northeast and eastern regions, and the western region was relatively the lowest. Meanwhile, there was a fluctuating upward trend in the time series, with an average annual growth rate of 0.84%. 4) The GTCLU efficiency was significantly depended on the agricultural economic level, cultivated land resource endowment, government support, and technology use intensity. A better GTCLU was then required the system, management innovation, as well as the promotion of resource endowment and technology. Specifically, four suggestions were addressed for each region during this time: 1) To take the sustainable development of cultivated land resource endowment; 2) To strictly control the low benefit mode of agricultural economic development; 3) To fully release the vitality of green cultivated land market and the driving force; 4) To continuously strengthen the green elements in the input and output of cultivated land use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the environmental impact of three forms of waste PET bottle management, i.e. through recycling, energy recovery and as a result of its disposal. The analysis was carried out using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) technique enabling comprehensive assessment covering both direct and indirect environmental impacts. The research carried out included changes resulting from technological progress and the development of environmental protection technologies, which may have a significant impact on the obtained results. An attempt has been made to take into account these changes and assess the environmental benefits of various forms of PET bottle management. The study confirmed the results of research carried out by Chinese and British scientists indicating that the most environmentally friendly form of waste PET bottle management is recycling (1.38 mPt). Energy recovery (2.73 mPt) shows a higher environmental burden, while disposal is the most unfavourable form of waste PET bottles management (7.31 mPt). As a result, despite differences in environmental technologies used a decade ago and today, as well as legal differences in force in the compared regions of the world, the main conclusions of the study remain valid. For this reason, it is important adopt environmentally friendly waste PET bottles management and to include them in the global material balance for the implementation of circular economy solutions that correspond directly with the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article deals with study of the relationship between energy consumption and the level of the shadow economy. Based on the comparison of average rates of renewable energy consumption and the shadow economy per capita of EU countries and Ukraine for the period 2005-2016, the authors distinguish clusters of countries by the nature and direction of the relationship between the analyzed indices. The study of these relationships is based on the linear relationship concept between the shadow economy and energy consumption. The EU countries and Ukraine are identified as the statistical base of the study and the assessment period is 2005-2016. The results confirm the hypothesis of the shadow economic activity impact on energy consumption and prove their dependence on the scientific and technological progress in the country. All indices are statistically significant at the level of 1% and 5% and 10% respectively. This research let the authors conclude that it is necessary to take into account the energy consumption volumes in the process of estimating the shadow economy under the influence of innovative technologies and processes. Empirical calculations have proved the high level of the shadow economy in the vast majority of European Union countries, the average value of which is 22%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]