Ecological Policy Research Articles

Fiscal decentralization, environmental policy stringency, and resource sustainability: Panacea or Pandora's box in high resource consuming countries

Improving fiscal management and resource efficiency has become one of the imperative policy agendas, particularly for resource-rich economies. Due to ecological susceptibility and resource scarcity, exploring the core factors of resource consumption is critical for designing an effective climate policy. Manifestly, fiscal decentralization has an enormous potential to pursue sustainable development. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of fiscal decentralization and ecological policy stringency on consumption-based resource footprint (RF) in resource-intensive countries from 1990 to 2019. It applies a cross-section augmented distributive lag estimator in resolving the issues of cross-section dependency and slope heterogeneity. The study's long and short-run outcomes reveal that revenue decentralization and environmental governance significantly reduce RF. However, the contradictory results are examined by expenditure decentralization, which promotes RF. Moreover, strict environmental regulations moderate the positive influence of expenditure decentralization, implying that the resource-decoupling effect of expenditure decentralization on RF is reduced when the countries are embodied with effective environmental governance systems. Similarly, the alternative methods endorsed identical findings, and this study offers valuable policy suggestions to strengthen the environmental protection system and formulate sound ecological policies for efficient resource utilization under the decentralization framework.

Analysis of the green paradigm in European, global and domestic policies

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the green paradigm in European, global, and domestic policies. The research methodology is based on a systemic approach, which involves the use of modern and classical scientific methods: general scientific methods (analysis and synthesis of data); retrospective and comparative analysis (identification of cause-and-effect relationships); analytical-synthetic (study of scientific and statistical data, archival materials, legislative and founding documents, etc.). The aim of this study was to define the essence of sustainable development in the context of agrarian and ecological policies of Ukraine, as well as the concept of the green economy as an important component of the country’s socio-economic development in the wartime and post-war periods. The retrospective development of the concept of sustainable development in the context of agrarian and ecological policies of Ukraine and the world has been analyzed. The concept of the green economy as an important component of our country’s socio-economic development has been considered, especially with regard to European integration processes and in light of Russian military aggression and its complex consequences. A comparison of the green economy, green growth, and sustainable development based on economic, social, and ecological aspects has been conducted. The article argues that the comprehensive ecological, economic, and social crisis is a stimulus for rethinking the principles of managing agricultural landscapes in Ukraine, both at the national and regional levels. The feasibility of implementing a complex post-war revival of the state and its regions based on the principles of green economy is justified, albeit with modifications that would include elements of blue and circular economies. It is established that the practical implementation and effectiveness of the documents ratified by Ukraine in the field of sustainable development are relatively insignificant, as there is still no legislative document that conceptually and comprehensively defines a clear procedure for achieving sustainable development goals in our country, as well as a related regulatory framework.

How to effectively improve the ecosystem provisioning services in traditional agricultural and pastoral areas in China?

The provisioning services of ecosystems are fundamental for people's livelihoods, health, and survival, yet provisioning services are highly dependent on land use/cover change (LUCC), especially in fragile alpine ecosystems. In the Qilian Mountains, one of China's traditional farming and pastoral areas, changes in provisioning services are related to regional well-being. This study focuses on the multi-scale evolution, driving factors, and sustainable development strategies for providing farmland and grassland ecosystem services from 2000 to 2020. The results showed an overall upward trend in the value of providing services by grassland and cropland ecosystems over the past 20 years, increasing by US $249 million and US $67.35 million, respectively. The economic benefits of livestock products provided by grassland and agricultural products from farmland accounted for 70.5% and 29.5% of the total income of farmers and herdsmen, respectively. However, in the past 10 years, the contribution of grassland and farmland ecosystems to provisioning services has decreased by 0.2% and 1.7% respectively. The reduction of contribution will directly affect the capacity to provisioning services, which is not conducive to regional development. It is found that human factors such as policy system change, urbanization process and ideological change are the main driving factors for the change of supply services in traditional agricultural and pastoral areas, and climate change has played a certain role in promoting. In order to effectively improve the ability of traditional agricultural and pastoral areas to provide services, we put forward the development strategy of “Ecological Husbandry + Precision Agriculture (EHPA)”. and promote the “Production, Learning, Scientific research and Practical application” of ecosystem services from the five aspects of ecological space, industrial layout, ecological industrial development, ecological technology and ecological policy system, so as to improve the ability of ecosystem provisioning services.

The right to ecology: Rohingya refugees and citizens contest over natural resources in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT More than a million Rohingya have fled Myanmar to live in Bangladesh, mostly in Cox’s Bazar district. The government has been praised worldwide for sheltering them, but this enormous influx has strained its limited resources. As the host communities struggle with the Rohingya for control over and access to the scarce natural resources they depend on for their livelihood — land, water, agriculture, and forests — tension and conflict arise. The host community members perceive that the government and aid agencies prioritize the Rohingya over the host communities in allocating resources, exacerbating their resentment. I argue that although both the locals and the Rohingya are poor and marginalized, as citizens, the locals have a stronger claim to environmental citizenship and rights to state resources. Any ecological policies taken towards the safeguarding of resource usage rights of the Rohingyas should also be inclusive and should give equal consideration to the local host community members.

Change of the spatial and temporal pattern of ecological vulnerability: A case study on Cheng-Yu urban agglomeration, Southwest China

China's urban economy has developed rapidly over the decades, and the Cheng-Yu urban agglomeration has become one of China's four typical urban agglomerations, with a large population and a high level of economic development. However, the conflict between humans and the environment is becoming increasingly prominent together with economic development. In order to protect the ecological environment in urban areas, thus scientific understanding and assessment of ecological vulnerability are beneficial to establishing regional conservation measures, and serve as a key means to maintain environmental health. Based on the “Sensitivity-Resilience-Pressure” (SRP) model, this study considered remote sensing, geographic and statistical data to construct an evaluation system for regional ecological vulnerability. In addition, the coupled AHP (Analytic hierarchy process)-Entropy weighting model was proposed to obtain the weight of each evaluation indicator and analyze the spatio-temporal distribution characteristics of the ecological vulnerability of the study area during 2000–2020. The changes and the divergence pattern were depicted by the transfer matrix, dynamic degree and spatial auto-correlation. The results indicated that the ecological vulnerability of Cheng-Yu urban agglomeration is mainly mild and moderate, with an overall high distribution in Chongqing and Chengdu, while low in the central and north zone (e.g., Ziyang, Mianyang). It is consistent with the distribution of HH (High-High) and L-L (Low-Low) clusters, respectively, having a significant positive spatial correlation. In particular, the severely vulnerable area increased from 7059 km2 in 2000 to 23553 km2 in 2020, with an increased rate of 233.66 %. Combining the transfer matrix and dynamic degree, it was found that the ecological environment underwent a rapid deterioration followed by a slow recovery. This study provides a scientific reference for the ecological policy making which serves sustainable urban development.

Multiscenario Simulation of Land-Use Change in Hubei Province, China Based on the Markov-FLUS Model

A goal of land change modelers should be to communicate scenarios of future change that show the variety of possible future landscapes based on the consequences of management decisions. This study employs the Markov-FLUS model to simulate land-use changes in Hubei Province in multiple scenarios that consider social, economic, and ecological policies using 18 driving factors, including point-of-interest data. First, the Markov-FLUS model was developed and validated with historical data from 2000 to 2020. The model was then used to simulate land-use changes from 2020 to 2035 in four scenarios: natural development, economic priority, ecological protection, and cultivated land protection. The results show that the Markov-FLUS model effectively simulates the land-use change pattern in Hubei Province, with an overall accuracy of 0.93 for land use simulation in 2020. The Kappa coefficient and FOM index also achieved 0.86 and 0.139, respectively. In all four scenarios, cultivated land remained the primary land use type in Hubei Province from 2020 to 2035, while construction land showed an increasing trend. However, there were large differences in the simulated land use patterns in different scenarios. Construction land expanded most rapidly in the economic priority scenario, while it expanded more slowly in the cultivated land protection scenario. We designed the protection scenario to restrict the rapid expansion of construction land. In the natural development and economic priority scenarios, construction land expanded and encroached on cultivated land and forests. In contrast, in the ecological protection scenario, forests and water areas were well-preserved, and the decrease in cultivated land and the increase in construction land were effectively suppressed, resulting in a large improvement in land use sustainability. Finally, in the cultivated land protection scenario, the cultivated land showed an increasing trend. The spread and expansion of construction land were effectively curbed. In conclusion, the Markov-FLUS model applied in this study to simulate land use in multiple scenarios has substantial implications for the effective utilization of land resources and the protection of the ecological environment in Hubei Province.

Effect of green investment to reduce carbon emissions in an imperfect production system

Climate change is a serious hazard to human life today, and the greenhouse effect is its key cause. The production sector is one of the biggest contributors to climate change as it accounts for a large part of greenhouse gas emissions. Many nations have created ecological policies and regulations to prevent industries from emitting excessive amounts of carbon emissions (CO2) into the ecosystem. Industry experts believe that green technology might aid in making a more sustainable future as a result of the current climate crisis. Investments in green technologies are rising rapidly which may allow more nations to adopt green technology and transition away from non-renewable resources. This research explores the viability of investing in green technology to achieve a sustainable production scheduling considering an uncertain amount of CO2 during the processes of production, transport, and storage, and thus offers managerial insights for policymakers to reduce both CO2 and overall cost. This study assumes an imperfect production process where a fraction of the items is faulty, and the firm employs a rework approach to rectify the faulty items. The firm invests in green technology to significantly cut CO2 and support innovation to address the climate crisis and benefit communities. The main point of the study is to develop a solution procedure of the problem associated with the amount of CO2 where all the CO2 factors might increase or decrease fuzziness. According to the skills gained by the decision maker we fuzzify all CO2 factors as trapezoidal fuzzy numbers, and we use a signed distance method to defuzzify the model. The results imply that the production sector’s outsize ecological CO2 can be reduced without compromising quality by designing optimal production strategies. The findings also confirm that green investment is the greatest economical method for reducing CO2 and overall costs.

Green Economy as a Prerequisite for Sustainable Development: Analysis of International and Ukrainian Experience

Abstract
 The article reflects the approaches to the essential content of the concept of green economy in the context of the implementation of ecologically-oriented production, ensuring the welfare of society and achieving sustainable development goals, the expediency and socio-economic need to transition to a system of management based on the principles of green economy concept, identifies priority activities to ensure an effective and progressive transition to sustainable development and green economy. The key challenges facing the global economy at the present stage are presented, and the possible options for an effective response to such problems through the prism of sustainable development and implementation of the principles of green economy are considered. The experience of countries of the European and Asia-Pacific regions in developing national strategies for transition to a green economy, which are based on ensuring the life of society in harmony with nature, the promotion of natural biodiversity and the growth of human well-being through the promotion of conservation, is analyzed. The organizational and legal aspects of the formation of green economy in Ukraine are considered, the problematic issues of implementation of the ideas and principles of the concept of green economy on the way to ensure progressive development are given. According to the approved strategy of the state ecological policy of Ukraine the directions of development of green economy, providing introduction of the effective financial tools, in particular, green bonds, green crediting, creation of funds of financing of green projects, optimization of green tariffs are offered and proved.
 Key words: green economy, sustainable development, globalization, global challenges, rational economic management, social justice.

Spatiotemporal evolution analysis of human disturbances on giant panda: A new approach to study cumulative influences with large spatial scales

The disturbance of wildlife habitats by human activities has become an important driving force in the evolution of ecological landscapes. However, human disturbances in panda habitats are highly diverse and complex. To study the changes in the temporal and spatial dynamics of human disturbances affecting panda populations, an analysis model for the evolution of human interference was designed using information entropy and statistical methods. Based on data from the third and fourth National Wild Giant Panda surveys in China, we analyzed the developmental trend, spatial distribution, and characteristics of the current state and regional distribution of human disturbances affecting panda populations. The results showed that shoot gathering, farming, and tourism were key local distribution factors, whereas hunting, road infrastructure, and logging had a more widespread impact on panda habitat. Livestock and herb gatherings, however, showed no clear distribution patterns. The influence of the main disturbance factors (logging, livestock, road infrastructure, and shoot gathering) tended to increase over time, whereas the development of the relative strength and weakness of the disturbances showed an evolutionary trend. Although logging, livestock, shoot gathering, and road infrastructure have historically been the main panda habitat disturbances, the impact of logging and shoot gathering has been diminishing over time, with road infrastructure emerging as the leading disturbance factor. Farming has shaped the distribution area of giant panda habitats over the past several hundred years. Additionally, logging has caused current fragmentation patterns for several decades. Moreover, it is estimated that road infrastructure will have a broad and profound impact in the coming decades. Our results indicate that the information entropy theory can be effectively used to analyze the temporal and spatial characteristics of human disturbances that affect wildlife. Our findings will provide a basis for ecological policies that aid the preservation of threatened panda populations and guide future research on habitat disturbance.

Is land degradation worsening in Northern China? Quantitative evidence and enlightenment from satellites

AbstractLand degradation has become an urgent environmental issue globally. The complexity of land degradation hinders its quantification and monitoring, which is needed to realize the sustainable development of land resources. This study constructed a comprehensive index—land degradation status index (LDSI), which integrates in fractional vegetation cover (FVC), net primary productivity (NPP), albedo, and modified temperature vegetation drought index (MTVDI) based on spatial principal component analysis (SPCA). Land degradation was then identified by the dynamics of land degradation status during 2001–2018. This study investigated the spatio‐temporal process and driving mechanism of land degradation in Northern China. The result indicates that: (1) LDSI had a better monitoring performance compared with normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), (2) although some degraded land had been effectively rehabilitated (17.11%), a highly clustered spatial distribution of land degradation status remained, challenging to break, (3) localized land degradation had expanded (1.063%), mainly in semiarid (0.481%), dry sub‐humid (0.289%), and humid (0.187%) regions, and (4) differences in climate, environmental backgrounds, and human activities were driven land degradation status and process. This study also assessed the effectiveness of ecological projects implemented by the Chinese government. The in‐depth understanding of the change regularity and influencing mechanism in land degradation status and process can provide a scientific basis for formulating ecological policies based on local conditions.

Changes in Land Use and Ecosystem Service Values of Dunhuang Oasis from 1990 to 2030

Maintaining the integrity and stability of oasis ecosystems is an important topic in the field of ecological research. Assessment of ecosystem services and their changes can provide important support for the sustainable development of oases. This study took the Dunhuang oasis in the hyper-arid area as the research object and used 1990, 2010, and 2020 Landsat series satellite images to complete the land use interpretation by random forest classification. Then we estimated the ecosystem services value (ESV) by using benefit transfer method, and predicted the trend of ecosystem service value changes under three scenarios using the Analytic Hierarchy Process method and the patch generation land use simulation model (AHP-PLUS model). The results showed that the vegetation areas of the Dunhuang Oasis first decreased and then increased during 1990–2020. The decrease was largely due to the expansion of built-up land and farmland, and the increase was mainly contributed by the implementation of ecological protection policies. The path of changes in the ESV of the Dunhuang Oasis during 1990–2020 was well consistent with that of vegetation areas, with a maximum of 9068.15×106 yuan (in 1990) and a minimum of 6271.46×106 yuan (in 2010). Spatial autocorrelation analysis showed that urbanization reduced ESV, and the implementation of ecological policies enhanced ESV. The ESV of the Dunhuang Oasis for the year 2030 under the ecological conservation scenario could reach 7631.07×106 yuan, which is 381.1×106 yuan higher that under the economic development scenario. The ecological conservation scenario is the optimal option to achieve sustainable development of the Dunhuang Oasis. We suggested that the government should continuously enhance the protection of forests and waterbodies, reasonably restrict production and domestic water consumption, and efficiently increase the proportion of ecological water consumption. In addition, this study improved the evaluation method of oasis ESV based on the proportion of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of grasslands with different coverage, which is important for improving the environment in arid areas.

Key Pathways to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals in Three Polar Regions

Due to the local and natural characteristics of high latitude and altitude in the Three Polar Region (TPR)—that is, the Antarctic, the Arctic, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP)—this region has been significantly affected by climate change and related disasters. Thus, the sustainable development pathway for the TPR is different from that of other regions. The Antarctic region, as a public territory, experiences sustainability problems that are mainly the result of the integrated impact of tourism and scientific and commercial fishing activities on the continent and ocean. Understanding how to build a shared, co-built, and co-governed, legally binding and equal international multilateral partnership or treaty, and thereby reducing the impact on water life and on land life, is the key pathway to achieving the Antarctic sustainable development goals (SDGs). The Arctic region has both a high level of development at the national level and a low level of development within the country, including the livelihood of indigenous people. Learning how to effectively deal with the domestic development imbalance in the future is a key pathway to achieving Arctic SDGs. The QTP has a fragile ecology and a single industry. As a relatively poor area in China, the ability to promote ecological protection and improve people’s welfare through ecological policies is a key pathway to achieving the SDGs in the QTP. At the same time, the TPR also needs to enhance its climate resilience through climate action to mitigate the impacts of climate change. On this basis, to fully achieve the SDGs in support of the TPR, it is necessary to establish and pursue multilateral cooperation in science research, infrastructure, commerce, energy, and mining trades. As an important part of the climate system, spatial and temporal changes in the TPR have direct and indirect impacts on the global climate and other spheres (e.g., Anthroposphere) and also affect the global sustainable development process. Therefore, through the TPR’s linkage and multilateral cooperation, the region can simultaneously enter the global sustainable development track.

How ecological policy stringency moderates the influence of industrial innovation on environmental sustainability: The role of renewable energy transition in BRICST countries

Global economies enforce strict environmental regulations and renewable energy transition policies to address climate vulnerabilities. The current study elucidates the effects of renewable energy transition, ecological governance, technology innovation, and economic growth on the environmental degradation of the BRICST (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and Turkey) nations. The study employed Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) on yearly data from 1990 to 2020. The empirical outcomes revealed that the nexus among the variables is quantile-dependent and grounded on the conditional distribution of consumption-based carbon emissions. Renewable energy transition and environmental policy stringency tend to curtail consumption-based carbon emissions; however, these effects weaken moving from lower to higher quantiles. Moreover, technological innovation significantly moderates the impact of environmental governance on emissions mitigation, mainly at lower to medium quantiles. These results suggest implementing integrated policy for innovation, energy transition, and ecological governance.

Continuum of explaсations of modernization of ecological administration and management in the conditions of power decentralization

It is stated that implementation of local ecological policy requires development of ecological administration and management systems. It is substantiated that modernization of ecological administration and management in the conditions of decentralization of power can be considered as: space-time, hierarchical and orientational continuum. It is summarized that the scientific explanation of the continuity of modernization of ecological administration and management in the conditions of decentralization of power, the significance of such modernization and the vectors of its implementation forms a scientific product that will bring benefits through its implementation in the practical plane regarding the strengthening of various institutions, first of all, the institution of the state, and the provision of local ecological development . Introduction. The conditions of decentralization of power determine the exceptional significance of modernization of ecological administration and management, the result of which should be: an effective local environmental policy implemented with the involvement of the public in solving environmental issues; active, internally motivated and ecologically oriented activities of business entities. Goal. The purpose of this article is to substantiate the continuum of explications for modernization of ecological administration and management in the conditions of decentralization of power. Method (methodology). To achieve the goal, a set of research methods was used: theoretical - analysis, synthesis, comparison, systematization and generalization of the conceptual provisions of the researched issues presented in the scientific literature. Results. The environmental sphere is influenced by scientific and technical, social, economic, legal and other factors that change, and therefore ecological administration and management must undergo modernization. Sphere of application of research results. The obtained results are applied in the theoretical and practical planes regarding modernization of ecological administration and management in the conditions of decentralization of power, improvement of the implementation of local ecological policy. Conclusions. The effectiveness of implementation of the ecological policy in the conditions of decentralization of power largely depends on the participants (subjects) of ecological management, the tools used by them. The influence of factors of the changing environment makes adjustments, and therefore ecological administration and management must be modernized.

The New World Economy

The article describes the key components of the new world economy that is emerging before our eyes. Russia has the potential to achieve conceptual and intellectual leadership in addressing challenges that remain relevant for all of humanity, such as climate change management, development of scientifically grounded ecological policies, space exploration, new energy generation technologies, reassembling of international organizations activities, and the transition to meaningful comprehensive development governance. The thesis is declared that the world as a cultural-civilizational complex will continue to globalize in the civilizational context (technologies, transportation, communication, comfort, modern clothing, footwear, building materials, etc.), and in the cultural context, it will become more equitable and just. Furthermore, value-added chains will continue to function despite political obstacles and limitations. Humanity is now faced with the necessity to make a choice between developmental imitation (catch-up or sustainable development) and genuine development, which implies breakthroughs into the unknown, scientific research, and the development of technologies that currently appear inconceivable. Will we continue to play bureaucratic games in the style of "We are merely executors, following rules and procedures, obeying instructions and carrying out orders whose meanings we do not understand," or will we take responsibility for achieving ambitious results? Every political leader, scientist, manager, and ordinary person finds themselves facing this existential choice today.

Research on the Generation Model of President Xi Jinping’s Ecological Discourse from the Perspective of Transitivity

Undeniably, ecological problems have tight contact with the development of human society. China as the largest developing country in the world, its ecological policy asserts great influence and President Xi Jinping’s discourses is an important reflection. By conducting a quantitative and qualitative research from the perspective of the Transitivity theory on the generation model of President Xi Jinping's ecological discourses, this paper finds that President Xi Jinping mainly apply material process, relational process and mental process to express four kinds of ecological discourses topics which are problem response, expression of construction goal, construction methods, call for common action, finally realizing the refection of the ecological idea, that is, to achieve the harmonious development of man and nature.

Економічні інструменти подолання екологічних проблем в Україні

The purpose of the article is to develop proposals for improving the economic instruments for overcoming ecological problems in Ukraine. A significant deterioration in the state of the environment in an unstable economic situation is emphasized. The significant aggravation of ecological and economic problems in the country during the wartime and the need to overcome them are underlined. The dynamics of changes in the state of the environment, in particular the volume of waste generation and disposal in Ukraine during 2016-2020, is examined. It is concluded that there is an unstable trend of changes in the volume of waste generated, which allowed to state the inconsistent and unsystematic ecological policy of the government recently. As a positive point, the tendency to reduction of the waste of I–III hazard classes is specified. The tendency to decrease the volume of recycled and burned waste and increase the amount of waste in specially designated places and facilities is determined, which can also be the cause of aggravation of ecological problems in the country. An analysis of the dynamics of capital investments and current costs for the protection and rational use of natural resources is carried out. It is concluded that at the state level in Ukraine the problem of greening production has not yet been resolved. It is emphasized that ecologically safe and resource-saving technologies, as well as waste processing and purification require additional financial investments. It is underlined that economic instruments for regulating the behavior of economic and ecological systems today require additional substantiation. The possibilities of more efficient use of methods of taxation, customs policy, lending, provision of subsidies and benefits, imposition of fines, etc. are considered. The need to introduce ecological management as an important direction to overcome ecological problems in the country is proved. In order to ensure the efficiency of the considered economic instruments, the need for an appropriate control system with performance control and compliance with standards is substantiated.

Phased and polarized development of ecological quality in the rapidly-urbanized Pearl River Delta, China.

Urbanization is one of the most significant human activities in the Anthropocene, with profound impacts on environmental quality. The lack of an understanding about the relationship between urbanization and ecological quality limits the effectiveness of urban planning and ecological policies in alleviating urban ecological problems. Based on the integrated ecological index RSEI (remote sensing ecological index), this study attempts to clarify the spatio-temporal characteristics of ecological quality in an urbanization process through an empirical study in China's Pearl River Delta (PRD) and explores the relationship between urbanization and ecological quality. Our results show that the ecological development of the PRD in the period of 1986 to 2019 was a phased and polarized process. Two periods are distinguished, based on RSEI dispersion: the period of 1986 to 2003, with slight dispersion, and the period of 2004 to 2019, with higher dispersion. Plain areas show evidence of ecological degradation, whereas a considerable improvement was observed in hilly areas. Industrialization and consummation of legal system were the driving factors behind the phased development of ecological quality, while the differences in landform and land management were the fundamental reasons for the spatial differentiation of ecological quality. The findings of this study provide experience and enlightenment for ecological management and sustainable development strategies in regions seeking rapid growth in their prosperity.

Heading towards sustainable environment: does renewable and non-renewable energy generation matter for the effect of industrialization and urbanization on ecological footprint? Evidence from China.

This study examines how renewable and non-renewable energy generation interacts with both to affect the ecological footprint in China during 1990-2019 by using FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR estimation techniques and ARDL simulation models to assess the impact of industrialization and urbanization on environmental sustainability based on the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis model framework. Firstly, the findings verify the applicability and validity of the EKC hypothesis in China. Secondly, renewable energy generation, industrialization, and urbanization facilitate the reduction of ecological footprint and the improvement of environmental quality in the long run, while non-renewable energy generation increases the ecological footprint and leads to the intensification of ecological pollution. However, the short-term estimates give evidence that industrialization, urbanization, and renewable and non-renewable energy generation can all increase the ecological footprint, which is not conducive to ecological sustainability. Thus, from the perspective of ecological sustainability in China, our findings are important in that they provide clear directions for ecological policy formulation, and we also provide some targeted policy recommendations for them to promote sustainable development as a goal.

Sustainable Supply Chain System for Defective Products with Different Carbon Emission Strategies

Many nations have created ecological policies and regulations to prevent industries from emitting excessive amounts of carbon emissions into the environment. While significant progress has been achieved in the direction of sustainable growth, many nations still rely on nonrenewable energy sources. This study explores the viability of investing in green technology to achieve the optimal decisions (lot sizes, lead time, and green investment amount) in a two-echelon supply chain system by considering human error with two carbon emission strategies: carbon taxes and limited carbon emissions. It entails the inspection of every shipped lot by the buyer to identify defective products that could have resulted from the vendor’s production process. We show a constrained non-linear program and design a calculus-optimization technique to solve it. The methodology used in this research is the quantitative method, which is based on the principles of operations research, and the models are built on mathematically oriented inventory theory. The results imply that an outsized ecological carbon footprint can be reduced without compromising customer service by designing optimal inventory strategies. The findings also confirm that green investment is the greatest economical method for reducing carbon emissions and system costs.