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The European plan for a green transition includes the Fit for 55 package, designed to pave the way for climate neutrality. Despite its significant implications for cleaner technologies, it potentially correlates with high investment requirements, necessitating the pursuit of cost-effective environmental policies. Starting from the reference scenario previously envisaged in the Energy and Climate Plan, socioeconomic and environmental impacts are assessed using mixed methods. It is estimated that €1120 bn in investments are needed to meet decarbonization targets, while the total impact on public finance revenues to 2030 is projected at €529 bn. Additionally, the avoided costs of emissions amount to €36 bn, while those from energy savings are expected to reach €30 bn. This paper adds value by contributing to the literature on European climate policies, offering an in-depth appraisal of implications that integrates technoeconomic and environmental perspectives. Furthermore, it informs policymakers' public spending decisions for decarbonization.

The effectiveness of the European Emissions Trading System in supporting a level playing field while reducing total emissions is tested. While data show a robust impact on the environment as a steady decrease in carbon emissions is observed, it is reported that its ability to internalize emission costs may improve to better address the import of extra European generated emissions that negatively impact the economy when not properly accounted for. Analyzing data in six European countries between 2016 and 2020, the results suggest competitive advantages for industries with higher extra-European imports of inputs that result in biased production costs that, in turn, alter competitive positioning. The novelty lies in focusing on the threats to fair competition within Europe along with the well-known carbon leakage risk widely investigated by previous literature. Complementary policy tools capable of internalizing emission costs, regardless of their origin, are necessary to improve the healthy functioning of the system. In this regard, carbon taxation may outperform carbon border adjustment, as it is based on consumption patterns. Our results can aid policymakers in designing impact analyses aimed at limiting potential distortions to Europe's level playing field.

A long-lasting dilemma on the efficient provision of services of general economic interest has become increasingly important in the waste management industry: competition or monopoly in municipal solid waste management. Previous literature has primarily examined the economics of scale and scope to provide an adequate response. Here, we contribute by investigating subadditivity in municipal solid waste management service costs. Subadditivity is a critical concept used to justify imperfect competition, which encourages natural monopolies where one producer will function more effectively than more firms. To test the hypothesis that a subadditivity in costs in waste management exists, we design a simulation based on empirical data for Milan, Italy. We compared the total production cost of the incumbent firm with the alternative hypothesis built by dividing the city into four areas and assigning each area to a different hypothetical firm. The results suggest that the existence of subadditivity results in 6% lower production costs, primarily stemming from business synergies, lower transactional costs, and optimization of productive resources and facilities. The evidence justifies, ceteris paribus, that the provision by a single firm is preferable to multiple firms in the analysis case. Implications for policies are straightforward. The one-fit rule approach fails to set the best condition for policymakers to create a level playing field transparently and efficiently for industry operators to perform efficiently.

Purpose: The paper aims to compare the efficiency of alternative municipal solid waste (MSW) management business models: a single provider against multiple providers. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper the drivers of MSW management costs are analysed to test the impact of the scale and scope of MSW management services on the average cost. While the business-as-usual scenario foresees a single provider, the alternative scenario foresees multiple providers. Findings: Based on the empirical data on municipal waste management costs, on average, the size and the average cost of the service are inversely related. This trend is supported using sub-sets defined by the quantity of waste managed. Multiple factors aid in explaining this result, and among others, due to scale and scope, factors such as transition costs increase with the number of players running different services. Practical implications: The provision of public services of economic interest should favour the participation of more companies wherever possible to the extent that social surplus is produced. However, pursuing this principle to the detriment of efficient service delivery is not ideal. This paper demonstrated that a single-provider waste management business model is efficient under specific conditions, as in this article. Originality/value: This paper presents an original research methodology for comparatively analysing waste management service efficiency in urban areas and provides adequate evidence using alternative measures of costs according to the phase of the waste management chain, the scale and ultimately the scope of MSW management services.

The propensity of industrial firms to build sustainability strategies based on knowledge development is an incentive for strategies driven by environmental, social, and economic criteria. However, although firms are increasingly committed to sustainability, poor engagement may lead to strategic drifts. Energy efficiency is one of the most important targets in industrial firms for reducing emissions primarily generated directly by the firm—emissions that are created by generating electricity or heat needed by firms. We focus on energy efficiency, which—along with technological advancement—is the most critical factor in industrial decarbonization and is a pathway for improving economic competitiveness and sustainability. Advances in technological innovation and stakeholders’ requirements provide a range of reasons for achieving environmental benefits. In our view, the outcomes of environmental strategies are influenced by the commitment of firms to sustainable business and their propensity for R&D. Our results show that 44.1% of firms claim to have an investment plan for energy efficiency. This percentage rises to 65% for firms investing more than 4% of their turnover in R&D. A similar trend can be noticed for investments in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics, in which 83.3% of the firms claim to have an investment plan of 4% of their turnover. We argue that ESG strategies require competencies and capability building among employees to be successful; otherwise, the risk of strategic drifts increases

Energy efficiency measures and Industry 4.0 investments are prominent drivers of business competitiveness and sustainability, working toward sustainable development goals and decarbonization commitments. We analyzed data from a survey of 239 Italian manufacturing firms conducted in 2021. The survey was designed to identify drivers of energy efficiency measures and Industry 4.0 measures, as well as barriers to their implementation. We also examined interventions on key business variables such as business model sustainability, corporate social responsibility, business economics, public image, reputation, and market positioning. Energy efficiency intervention drivers are correlated with sustainable corporate social responsibility and cost reduction, whereas Industry 4.0 intervention drivers are associated with production optimization variables. Prominent barriers to energy efficiency interventions relate to economic feasibility, regulatory uncertainty, and financial issues. Similarly, key barriers to Industry 4.0 interventions are economic feasibility, enabling infrastructures, and regulatory uncertainty. The implication of energy efficiency measures and Industry 4.0 investments are discussed to pave the way for complementarity, overlap, and contrasting effects of measures. The paper has business implications given that it benefits decision-makers to reduce the risk of strategic drift and increases the probability of meeting sustainable development goals and decarbonization targets of Sustainable Development Goal 11.

Natural gas distribution involves delivering gas to end customers via local low-pressure pipelines and is a public service. As part of the procedure for awarding the gas distribution service, contracting authorities define the scope of programmatic guidelines whereas firms participating in the open bidding process propose development plans through which they propose investment projects typically classified into extensions, upgrades, and maintenance development plans. According to the scale and scope of development plans, such investment projects must undergo, or are exempt from, a cost-benefit analysis. The criteria for classifying investment projects are called development conditions. This paper focuses on such criteria, proposing a new methodology aimed at incentivizing investment projects and simplifying the evaluation process. Results confirm that an improvement can be made in making development conditions more adequate to the needs of different territories. Policymakers can benefit from this paper, as investors and contracting authorities require a common methodology at the heart of the analysis of gas distribution network extension

We simulate the performance of a gain-sharing charging scheme aimed at boosting the circularity of municipal solid waste management; its effectiveness is empirically tested by comparing it with the performances of unit pricing and standard schemes. When unit pricing charging schemes are in place, environmental performance significantly improves while the per capita cost slightly decreases. However, by narrowing the analysis to more comparable municipalities, there are circumstances in which the unit pricing and standard charging schemes are equivalent. Instead, under specific conditions, a rewarding charging scheme can outperform, thus making it a first-best option according to socioeconomic and geographical characteristics.

In the context of urban policies, the circular economy can represent a virtuous model of sustainable and efficient management of resources and services for citizens, generating value for the community. Local policymakers play a central role in accelerating the circular economy transition, given that they organize and manage services that can significantly contribute to urban resilience. For policies to be properly designed, tools aimed at supporting territorial planning are needed to direct local policy towards choices that favor the circular economy and the resilience of cities. Among these urban planning tools, it is particularly important to have dashboards of comparative data on the degree of implementation of the circular economy. This paper provides a circularity mapping framework to map the degree of circularity and identify cities' strengths and weaknesses to design policies accordingly using a data-driven approach. Using a circular economy model based on 5 circular economy pillars, we identified 28 variables and assigned them to each of the pillars according to the variable's scope: sustainable inputs, social sharing, Product as a service, environmental policies, and resource efficiency. Both partial scores based on the five circular economy pillars, and a circularity index are provided for benchmarking and positioning analysis. Since urban life's environmental, economic, and social aspects are intertwined, only an integrated strategy can result in successful urban sustainable development. The paper supports policymakers in creating the conditions for efficient production and consumption markets and resource management systems while designing incentives and communications to citizens to support bottom-up initiatives and encourage virtuous behavior.

Global climate policy commitments are encouraging the development of EU energy policies aimed at paving the way for cleaner energy systems. This article reviews key decarbonization drivers for Italy considering higher environmental targets from recent European Union climate policies. Energy efficiency, the electrification of final consumption, the development of green fuels, increasing the share of renewable energy sources in the electric system, and carbon capture and storage are reviewed. A 2030 scenario is designed to forecast the role of decarbonization drivers in future energy systems and to compare their implementation with that in the current situation. Energy efficiency measures will reduce final energy consumption by 15.6%, as primary energy consumption will decrease by 19.8%. The electrification of final consumption is expected to increase by 6.08%. The use of green fuels is estimated to triple as innovative fuels may go to market at scale to uphold the ambitious decarbonization targets set in the transportation sector. The growing trajectory of renewable sources in the energy mix is confirmed, as while power generation is projected to increase by 10%, the share of renewables in that generation is expected to increase from 39.08% to 78.16%. Capture and storage technologies are also expected to play an increasingly important role. This article has policy implications and serves as a regulatory reference in the promotion of decarbonization investments.