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The diversity of locations, environment, and resource elements among different regions leads to the regional imbalance of inclusive green growth (IGG), especially in those developing countries like China. A core issue for achieving the coordination of regional IGG is to identify what influence factors with what extent to inhibit IGG levels of different regions. In this paper, a comprehensive IGG indicator system is designed based on the IGG connotation from four dimensions of economic development, social opportunity equity, green production and consumption, and ecological environment protection. An improved TODIM method is proposed to measure the regional IGG level and further reveal the inhibition effects of various influence factors on regional IGG. The results exemplified by China's 30 provinces during 2008–2018 show that China's eastern provinces possess more superior IGG levels, while the catch-up effect of IGG in central and western provinces is significant. The lower economic output, larger income gap, and weaker green production and consumption restrict the IGG of most western provinces. The higher economic and population agglomerations in eastern and central provinces challenge the ecological resource endowment and environment governance, which inhibits their IGG development. The inhibition effects of social opportunity equity involving employment, education, medical treatment, social security, and infrastructure on IGG levels do not reflect obvious regional agglomeration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Determining the loss mechanism of drought is crucial for the prevention of and adaptation to agricultural drought. This paper proposes a theoretical framework of agricultural drought loss analysis including drought monitoring, factor identification, and risk assessment based on multisource information fusion. First, drought events are monitored by combining the drought severity index and run theory, which help to extract the characteristic variables of drought frequency, duration, and intensity. Second, the agricultural drought loss rate is calculated by the "trend-fluctuation" decomposition model. Finally, the multisource information of remote sensing, meteorology, hydrology, and socioeconomic data are fused, and the improved grey incidence model with the B-mode based on panel data is proposed to identify key factors and evaluate the risk of agricultural drought loss. The results exemplified by China's Henan Province show that the frequency of drought in 2001–2018 is inversely related to the average duration and intensity of drought to some extent. The agricultural drought losses in the central and northern areas are higher, while those in the southern areas are relatively low. The water production coefficient as well as surface water resources, precipitation, and groundwater resources are the main factors that affect agricultural drought losses. This study provides theoretical support for analyzing drought formation mechanisms and preventing and controlling drought risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing the wind energy industry (WEI) has been a long-term strategy in China for responding to the energy crisis and greenhouse gas emissions. However, China's WEI faces various barriers despite its favorable prospects. This paper aims to propose a path analysis approach for exploring the best methods and timing for overcoming diverse barriers in developing WEI systematically, especially in terms of revealing in which phases these barriers should take priority. A multidimensional barrier set categorized by institutional, economic and financial, social, technical, and market factors is identified via the integration of a literature review and empirical interviews. A path analysis approach based on the grey group DEMATEL-NK model is constructed, where the causalities and intensities among barriers are extracted to design a path simulation algorithm with heuristics. The optimal path for overcoming barriers in developing the WEI is generated through a simulation of the search and optimization process used to climb to the fitness landscape peak. The results show that the different barriers to completing the legal and regulatory framework should be prioritized to reach adequate financial incentives and coordination among stakeholders, and that an efficient talent cultivation system should be developed and industry-academic cooperation should be strengthened to increase technical and R&D capabilities in the short term. The optimal path presents a strategic instrument for managers to use to better develop sustainable and clean wind energy systems from the novel insights of prioritizing to overcome barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly severe environmental issues, especially those in developing countries such as China, drive the evolution of the environmental protection institution (EPI) to its strictest levels. However, the implementation of the strictest EPI still confronts various challenges and barriers, and the multi-stakeholder features of EPI determine these barriers are not independent of one another but rather present complex interactive relationships. This paper identifies the barriers to implementing China's EPI from four aspects of environmental legal, economic, regulatory, and public participation institutions. A variable precision rough DEMATEL approach is proposed to visualize the causal relationships and intensities among barriers from the similarities and differences in perspectives of stakeholders from the government, company, and public levels. The obtained causal interactive mechanism among barriers highlights the need to prioritize the improvement of environmental policy assessment, and the concrete measures in policies or plans should be integrated into legislation to ensure they are mutually supportive early. The non-substantive contributions achieved by China's public participation in environmental protection reveal prejudices that the public is often regarded as a supporter or spectator by both government and company groups, which makes the transparent environmental information disclosure, transfer and feedback into an effective mediation among stakeholders. Comprehensive coordination and feedback mechanisms including source prevention, process control, and severe punishment for consequences while enhancing linkages among stakeholders are put forward to overcome barriers and help implement the strictest EPI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ice disaster risk in Ning-Meng reach of Yellow River in China is affected by many factors, and the various risk factors are not independent with each other but present complicated causal relationships. Identifying key ice disaster risk factors and analyzing the inner dependencies between factors are conducive to the successful implementation of ice disaster risk management. This paper concludes ice disaster risk factors through the current literature and the formation mechanism of ice disaster. The grey rough DEMATEL method is proposed to evaluate the interactions between risk factors, and it integrates the strength of grey number in characterizing decision maker's subjective information and the merit of rough logic in excavating and utilizing potential group decision information. The results show that the obtained visualized structural model can reveal the complex causal interactions between ice disaster risk factors effectively and determine the importance of risk factors. The study enhances ice disaster risk identification and provides a better reference for ice disaster prevention and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is one of the leading natural disasters in the world. It severely restricts the normal functioning of societies and economies. The purpose of this paper is to predict the drought vulnerability index in Henan Province so that timely measures can be taken to mitigate the impact of drought and to ensure the continued stability of people's lives and social development. First, the drought vulnerability index of Henan Province for 2010-2022 was calculated based on relevant literature and the regional situation of Henan Province. In addition, the main factors of sensibility and resilience are selected, the prediction indicator system is established, and the grey correlation analysis model is applied to select the top 10 main factors of drought vulnerability. Second, the Random Forest model was trained and simulated, and the drought vulnerability index of Henan Province was predicted for 2023-2025. Finally, the SHapley Additive exPlanations model was used to explain the specific effects of the influences of the Random Forest model. The interpretable Random Forest model not only accurately predicts the drought vulnerability index in Henan Province but also alleviates concerns about the "black box" problem of indirect interpretation of the Random Forest model. The results of the study show that the Average Percentage Error of the drought vulnerability index in Henan Province from 2010 to 2022 simulated by the Random Forest model is as low as 3.0457%, and the simulation accuracy is as high as 96.9643%. Drought vulnerability prediction for Henan Province was also made for the period 2023-2025, showing an increasing trend. Relevant sectors should enhance awareness and early warning of drought, improve resilience, and take effective measures to reduce the socio-economic impact of drought., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)