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Climate change and global warming incite countries to adopt a sustainable development strategy. Many countries consider environmental policies an efficient tool in such a context. Despite a rich literature on the relationship between environmental regulations and the firm's innovation, it almost relies on its environmental practices, but not the whole interaction between the firm and its stakeholders. This research investigates the nexus between environmental regulations, CSR, and innovation. This research relies on panel data on Vietnamese Small and Medium Enterprises between 2013 and 2015. To investigate whether the LEP 2014 implementation incites firms to be more innovative, either through changes in their environmental practices or CSR strategy, we perform a difference-in-difference estimator. This method could be relevant to explore the causal relations of an intervention or treatment on outcome variables. It also allows us to control for potential biases from the group- and time-invariant factors. Besides, we also provide some robustness estimations, including the placebo test, another measurement of innovation, and the potential endogeneity of Environmental treatments and CSR strategy. We first conduct the firm's innovation, environmental treatments, and CSR indexes. The CSR index includes three components: an environmental treatments index, a working conditions index, and a governance index. Our estimated results likely support the idea that the LEP 2014 implementation incites SMEs to improve their innovation capacity. Indeed, such a regulation obligates firms to enhance both their environmental practices and CSR strategy, which, in turn, encourages them to become more innovative. These conclusions still through different robustness verifications. As a first policy implication, a significant diffusion of the LEP 2014 would be predominant. Second, there would be measures that incite firms to improve their environmental treatment. Besides, while environmental regulations may stimulate innovation, their effectiveness requires supplementation with other incentive measures. For example, it is crucial to have supportive or incentive measures aimed at promoting CSR. Dialogue with stakeholders lies at the heart of an effective CSR strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study highlights the ongoing debate surrounding China's slow low-carbon transition despite a rapid shift towards clean energy. However, this debate is crucial for finding pathways to China's pledge to carbon neutrality. Using Auto-Regression Distributed Lag model over the time series data spanning 1990–2020, study attempts to add to the literature by exploring the nexus betwixt environmental regulations, renewable energy transition, and carbon dioxide emissions along with incumbent macroeconomic factors i.e., economic growth and trade. The findings conclude that stringent environmental regulations spur renewable energy transition and combat carbon dioxide emissions. However, energy intensive growth suggests China's priority for development targets ˗ leading to continued increase in fossil fuels despite the remarkable increase in renewable energy resources in country's total energy mix. Moreover, trade remains the crucial component of economic growth but found helping for renewable energy transition in the short-run. The two-way causality between these factors validate the regression results. Whereas the inelastic and insignificant relationship between stringent environmental regulations, renewables, and carbon dioxide emissions in the long run – highlights prospective challenges in terms of efficiency, management, and subsidy-related issues. Thus, the study suggest that trade liberalization helps the country to achieve its carbon abatement goals. However, further market based policy reforms toward stricter environmental regulations are needed for innovation driven efficiency in the energy sector.

Sediments are an integral component of aquatic systems, linking multiple water uses, functions, and services. Contamination of sediments by chemicals is a worldwide problem, with many jurisdictions trying to prevent future pollution (prospective) and manage existing contamination (retrospective). The present review assesses the implementation of sediment toxicity testing in environmental regulations globally. Currently, the incorporation of sediment toxicity testing in regulations is most common in the European Union (EU), North America, and Australasian regions, with some expansion in Asia and non‐EU Europe. Employing sediment toxicity testing in prospective assessments (i.e., before chemicals are allowed on the market) is most advanced and harmonized with pesticides. In the retrospective assessment of environmental risks (i.e., chemicals already contaminating sediments), regulatory sediment toxicity testing practices are applied inconsistently on the global scale. International harmonization of sediment toxicity tests is considered an asset and has been successful through the widespread adoption and deployment of Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development guidelines. On the other hand, retrospective sediment assessments benefit from incorporating regional species and protocols. Currently used toxicity testing species are diverse, with temperate species being applied most often, whereas test protocols are insufficiently flexible to appropriately address the range of environmental contaminants, including nanomaterials, highly hydrophobic contaminants, and ionized chemicals. The ever‐increasing and ‐changing pressures placed on aquatic resources are a challenge for protection and management efforts, calling for continuous sediment toxicity test method improvement to insure effective use in regulatory frameworks. Future developments should focus on including more subtle and specific toxicity endpoints (e.g., incorporating bioavailability‐based in vitro tests) and genomic techniques, extending sediment toxicity testing from single to multispecies approaches, and providing a better link with ecological protection goals. Environ Toxicol Chem 2024;43:1697–1716. © 2024 The Authors. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of SETAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional research has suggested that external environmental regulations and internal executive attitude are important factors. However, no in-depth study has yet to be conducted on the interaction between internal and external factors. This study constructs a model of the relationship between the different driving factors of eco-innovation from internal and external perspectives. By analyzing survey data covering 214 enterprises, this study explores the impact of environmental regulations on eco-innovation and further analyzes the moderating effect of the environmental awareness and commitment of top managers. Results show that, first, formal and informal environmental regulations and the environmental awareness and commitment of top managers have significant positive effects on eco-innovation. Second, the environmental awareness of top managers has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between environmental regulations and eco-innovation. Third, the environmental commitment of top managers has a significant positive moderating effect on the relationship between formal environmental regulations and eco-innovation. However, such environmental commitment has no significant moderating effect on the relationship between informal environmental regulations and eco-innovation. Finally, based on the empirical results, this study provides relevant managerial implications and policy suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The abundance of natural resources (NRR) is often regarded as a double‐edged sword, with the potential to promote or hinder sustainable development. Nevertheless, it is imperative to effectively manage the resources to ensure their sustainability and minimize their detrimental economic and environmental effects. Environmental regulations of nations and a structural shift towards more advanced and knowledge‐intensive modes of production can substantially contribute to this objective. Using a holistic index of sustainable development, this study aims to explore the interplay between NRR, economic complexity (ECI), environmental regulations, economic globalization, and sustainable development in 25 European Union (EU) countries from 1995 to 2019. The empirical results from the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MM‐QR) reveal a negative relationship between NRR and sustainable development, supporting the hypothesis of the resource curse. Conversely, the study demonstrates that ECI and environmental regulations drive sustainable development. Furthermore, economic globalization is found to have a detrimental effect on sustainable development. Finally, panel causality results revealed causal links from NRR, ECI, and environmental regulations to sustainable development. Meanwhile, ECI and environmental regulations have a causal impact on NRR. Our key findings lead towards the manifestation and emphasis of the importance of appropriate policies for the sustainable utilization of NRR and, concurrently, underscore the significance of environmental regulations and ECI in the pursuit of sustainable development in EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important factor endowment, environmental rules have a non-negligible impact on trade flows and patterns. Regarding the existing two completely different debates, this study uses simultaneous equations and the Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to assess the interaction and spatial spillover effects of environmental rules and global value chains (GVCs), the aim is to determine whether the impact of environmental rules on GVCs is biased towards “technological effects” or “Refuge effect”. The research findings reveal: (1) When the environmental rules are strengthened by 1 %, the forward participation of GVCs in developed countries decreases by 0.2930 % and the backward participation of GVCs increases by 1.4327 %. This reveals that stricter environmental rules result in GVCs participation bias towards the “refuge effect” in developed countries. (2) When environmental rules are strengthened by 5 % and 1 %, respectively, the GVC forward and backward participation of developing countries decreases by 0.0477 % and 0.5113 %, respectively, which means that when the environmental rules become stricter, both the forward and backward participation of GVCs in developing countries are biased towards the “refuge effect”. (3) Concerning the spillover effects of environmental regulations on participation in GVCs, stricter environmental regulations in developed countries impede their own forward participation in GVCs but promote their backward participation, with insignificant indirect effects. Additionally, stringent environmental regulations in developing countries impede their own forward participation in GVCs and similarly do not contribute to the enhancement of forward participation in neighboring developing countries. Therefore, this study suggests that developed countries can transfer green technology to developing countries through technology transfer agreements to promote mutual development. Moreover, developing countries actively adjust their industrial structure, increase investment in technology R&D, and cooperate with other countries and regions, which will help countries learn from best practices and coordinate their responses to common environmental challenges.

This study revisits the feedback effect from foreign direct investments (FDI) on environmental regulations under the presence of the host country's political structure. Such a relationship may encounter the endogeneity problem due to the omitted variable bias and reverse causality. As such, the two-step system generalized method of moments is employed. Using data from 21 OECD countries from 1990 to 2019, we confirm that FDI flows influence environmental regulations, but such an effect is conditional on the host country's political constraints. Specifically, FDI increases (decreases) the stringency of environmental regulations if domestic political constraints are sufficiently high (low). Understanding the mechanisms of how FDI flows can affect environmental regulations allows countries to revise their policies to attract more FDI flows to support economic growth while simultaneously minimising their negative effects on the environment.

Accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation of enterprises has become an inevitable path for industrial development. However, the driving force of corporate transformation is shifting from external pressure to internal power. With the development of digital platforms, public environmental concerns, as an effective supplement to government environmental regulations, have gradually become the leading force for enterprises to improve their internal capacity and achieve green transformation and upgrading. In view of this, this paper used panel data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2011 to 2020 and constructed a dynamic synergy model and a mediation effect model to focus on the impact of public environmental concerns on the green and low-carbon transformation of enterprises. It also explored the synergy mechanism between public environmental concerns and government environmental regulations from the perspective of internal and external linkages among enterprises. The main results were as follows: ① Public environmental concerns had a significant positive effect on corporate green transformation. For every 1% increase in public environmental concerns, corporate green transformation would increase by 0.029%. ② There was an effective synergy between public environmental concerns, government penalties, and government R&D subsidies, in which public environmental concerns had a stronger growth-promoting effect on corporate green transformation when matched with government environmental regulations. That is to say, if the level of synergy between public environmental concerns and government penalties increased by 1%, corporate green transformation would increase by 3.276%. ③ The mechanism test indicated that public environmental concerns positively promoted corporate green transformation mainly through three channels in the building of internal capacities: enhancing social responsibility awareness, strengthening technological innovation, and increasing environmental governance investment. In addition, the synergistic effect of public environmental concerns and government penalties was mainly internalized as the power of environmental governance investment to improve corporate green transformation. Public environmental concerns, in concert with government R&D subsidies, could promote corporate green transformation by enhancing the ability of technological innovation. Based on the above empirical findings, this study suggests that new media platforms should be efficiently used to form a public opinion effect to constrain the environmental behaviors of enterprises and force them to engage in green transformation and upgrading. Local governments should offer official channels to encourage their interactions, optimize the use of environmental regulation tools, improve their synergy with public environmental participation and their adaptability to the environment, and assist enterprises in selecting green transformation modes that match their own endowments. This will enable them to move from passive governance to active transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial development has greatly promoted China's economic growth. Under the dual pressure of resources and the environment, high-quality economic development has become an inevitable requirement of China's new era. Under the new development pattern of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, which is 'to step up conservation of the Yangtze River and stop its over-development,' it is of great significance to explore the transmission mechanism of the impact of environmental regulations on the economic belt's high-quality economic development. Based on the panel data of 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2005 to 2019, this paper constructed an index system of high-quality economic development and verified the mediation effect of environmental regulations on its high-quality economic development by using the mediation effect model. Intermediate variables, including technological input and industrial structure, were used. In addition, the dynamic threshold model was used to verify the impact of environmental regulations on high-quality economic development under different threshold variable levels. The results found that: (1) The results of the mediation effect test showed that both technological input and industrial structure had a partial mediation effect in the impact of environmental regulations on high quality economic development. Environmental regulations helped to improve the level of technological input and optimize the adjustment of industrial structure, which in turn had a positive impact on the quality of economic development. (2) The results of the threshold model showed that when technological input and industrial structure were the threshold variables of environmental regulations, environmental regulations had a threshold effect on high quality economic development. In regions with high technology input and a backward industrial structure, environmental regulations could better promote high quality economic development. (3) The results of the heterogeneity of the threshold effects showed that a temporal heterogeneity existed in the threshold effects of technology input and industrial structure variables and that factors such as the policy orientation of technological inputs and the rigidity of industrial structure affected the implementation effect of environmental regulation policies. Based on the above conclusions, the following policy recommendations are put forward: (1) Formulate differentiated environmental regulation policies and promote the effective implementation of environmental regulation policies. (2) Improve the level of technological input and provide new impetus for high-quality economic development. (3) Optimize industrial structure, and accelerate the green development and transformation of industries. (4) Clarify the mechanism of environmental compensation and special governance, and promote the synergistic development of regional economy and environmental regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental governance in China is a hybrid of mandatory and voluntary regulations in both implementation and enforcement. This paper aims to explore how voluntary environmental regulations (VERs) affect corporate green innovation (CGI) and the role of mandatory environmental regulations (MERs). The study uses panel data of 1,232 Chinese-listed manufacturing firms from 2004 to 2016 and the main findings are: first, VERs have a significant positive effect on CGI. Second, no significant effect has been found of MERs on firms' CGI. Third, in areas where mandatory environmental regulations are weak, voluntary environmental regulation can better serve as a supplement to promote firms' green innovation. The results are robust to a series of sensitivity checks. This study provides evidence that voluntary environmental regulation is more effective in encouraging enterprises to engage in green innovation activities, and it is an important supplement to mandatory environmental regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crypto space is a rapidly growing industry with a rapidly growing carbon footprint. The industry's expanding energy use has sparked a vigorous debate over whether and how best to regulate crypto mining's environmental effects. The Biden Administration and many members of Congress have studied the industry's environmental impact and concluded that there should be environmental regulations for the industry. Regulation, however, faces an obstacle in the form of concern that regulation may unduly stifle innovation and competition within the industry. This is a major reason why Congress has yet to enact environmental regulations for crypto mining. This Article proposes a win-win regulatory approach that would reduce crypto mining's environmental harms while also promoting, rather than stifling, competition and innovation. The Article proposes applying the Porter Hypothesis, a well-known economic theory in environmental law scholarship, to the problem of environmental harm caused by crypto mining. The Porter Hypothesis calls for a consultative, flexible approach to environmental regulation that involves input from the industry, focuses on reducing pollution at its source instead of mitigating its effects after the fact, and provides the industry flexibility by setting emission limits and using market incentives, but not prescribing the technological means, to meet them. Applied to crypto mining, the Porter Hypothesis suggests regulations that use a market incentive--like a pollution tax or a cap-and-trade program--to encourage crypto miners to reduce their pollution at its source, without mandating the use of a particular technology. The program should also provide funding for pilot projects, use phase-in periods and realistic deadlines, as well as require policymakers to monitor and publish data about individual miners' energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. This Article is the first to propose a regulatory program of environmental regulations for the industry, the first to apply the Porter Hypothesis to crypto mining, and the first to propose a regulatory approach that offers a win-win solution to overcome political opposition to regulating the environmental harms of crypto mining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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