Environmental Award Research Articles

In the name of awards: environmental award, legitimacy dominance, and corporate pollution

In the name of awards: environmental award, legitimacy dominance, and corporate pollution

A Quantum Leap Into Art

Abstract Winner of the Lumen Prize BCS Immersive Environment Award, Dr Libby Heaney, talks to Johanna Hamilton MBCS about her quantum computing inspired installation Ent–.

Climate change: Comparing "green" and "polluting" nation-states.

Some nation-states, i.e., Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, repeatedly score the highest in environmental indicators such as the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI). Their cities win environmental awards; they have well-developed recycling systems; they perform well with biodegradable waste; and their citizens show awareness of environmental problems, protesting publicly and even sueing their governing bodies if they don't do the same. For these and other reasons, recent scholarship defined these countries as "exemplary" green nation-states. The question is, which factors pushed them toward the green transition faster than others? And overall, what stops top polluting countries such as China, the United States and Russia from walking the same path? This article attempts to answer these questions by looking at climate change through a theoretical framework based on theories of nationalism and case studies of green nation-states. It compares three of said top polluting countries, China, the United States, and Russia, with "exemplary" green nation-states, and argues that the pace of greener nation-states rests on (1) a tradition of ecologism and environmentalism rooted in the long run, (2) the lock in of "green nationalism," a form of nationalism grounded on sustainability, (3) free and effective environmental movements, (4) inclusivity and welfare, and (5) a sense of national pride in environmental achievements. The available evidence seems to suggest that top polluting nation-states lack one or more of these factors.

Market Reaction Analysis of The Performance from The Winners of Asia Sustainability Reporting Rating Award Companies in 2019 – 2021

Social economic and responsible business is believed to provide opportunities to build competitive advantage, increase market share, and open new markets. This assumption shows that financial and non-financial performance influence the market reaction. The company's non-financial performance can be realized through CSR disclosures disseminated to the public in a sustainability report. On the other hand, the company's financial performance can be seen through the proxies of financial ratios of profitability, liquidity, leverage, and activities as measured using data from the annual report. This study aims to see the effect of the company's performance on the market reaction caused by the information. The sample in this study were all IDX-listed companies that won the Asia Sustainability Reporting Rating Award 2019-2021. So the writer has assumed that the sample in this study has an excellent overall company performance. The data collection methods are historical data sourced from the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX). The data used in this research are the company's annual reports and the company's sustainability reports. After passing the classical assumption test stage, the data were analyzed using the multiple regression method. The results show that CSR disclosure, Current Ratio, and Debt to Equity ratio have a positive but insignificant effect. Meanwhile, the Return on Assets and Total Asset Turnover variables significantly positively affect the market reaction. This condition shows that even though the company has won social and environmental awards, financial performance remains a proxy with a more significant influence than non-financial performance.

Using Life Cycle Assessment in tenders to enhance the sustainable procurement of External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems

Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a policy instrument to decrease the environmental impact of products and services and create environmental value for society. A new method for assessing environmental award criteria in GPP processes was developed to integrate environmental and economic criteria into public tenders for External Thermal Insulation Composite Systems (ETICS). The main objective of this study was to identify the effect that the inclusion of environmental impacts can have on decision-making in public procurement. At this scope, an environmental benchmark for the main phases of the supply chain (production, installation and disposal) of ETICS that use different insulating materials, including EPS and mineral wool, was defined for different Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) impact categories after a detailed literature review. Then the monetisation method of the externalities was applied to combine the environmental impacts and the direct costs associated with the manufacture of the ETICS system by obtaining a single score for the selection of the best bid from the environmental and economic point of view. This methodology was implemented in a spreadsheet and a case study was analysed as a practical application of the tool developed for the determination of the global index. The case study simulated a tender in which three contractors provided their bid for an ETICS system. The overall investigation of the results obtained in the case study showed that the environmental externalities have a rather limited incidence compared to direct costs (between 0.8 and 10%). However, even if the lower direct costs were provided by contractor 1 (87.72 €/m2) in comparison to contractor 2 (87.80 €/m2) and contractor 3 (92.74 €/m2), the slightly higher environmental impacts caused the costs to rise. The most environmentally and economically advantageous bid was then provided by contractor 2, for which the global index was the lowest for each monetisation method applied. For all the impact categories considered, the production stage (A1-A3) represents the most significant contribution. The thermal insulation material and the finishing coat provide the greatest contribution to the environmental impact. The tool was designed to improve the knowledge of the economic and environmental performances of ETICS systems, which might be also used by public administrations to define minimum environmental requirements and maximum specific costs when preparing tenders for the energy requalification of buildings.

THE ASSOCIATION OF PERFORMANCE, AWARDS, OWNERSHIP, AND MEDIA WITH THE ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLOSURE

This research aims at analyzing and empirically testing the effect of environmental performance, environmental awards, institutional ownership, and media coverage at 32 non-financial companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange and PROPER for the period 2018 – 2020 with 96 data and analyzed using multiple regression. The result of the statistical tests has proven that institutional ownership has a significantly negative effect on environmental disclosure. Meanwhile, environmental performance, environmental awards, and media coverage do not affect environmental disclosure.

Which Nationalism for the Anthropocene? A Comparative Study of Exemplary Green Nation-States

This article poses, and attempts to answer, two correlated questions: (1) Is nationalism, the dominant ideology in our world of nation-states, compatible with the struggle to halt or minimize climate change and related environmental catastrophes? and (2) Which form(s) of government, whether or not informed by nationalist ideology, could better address the most serious threat to human life that currently appears on the horizon? This article puts forward the claim that while the former question has only recently begun to be explored in a few essays and articles devoted to analyzing the linkages between nationalism and climate change, the latter remains unexplored. Attempting to fill this gap, we investigate case studies of exemplary nation-states that periodically scored the highest in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI): Scandinavian countries (Norway, Sweden, Denmark), Switzerland, and Germany. Their cities received environmental awards (i.e., the European Green Capital Award) and registered the highest levels in terms of citizen satisfaction. The goal is to identify factors and (pre)conditions that make forms of “green nationalism” possible.

Does green public procurement trigger environmental innovations?

Green public procurement has gained high political priority and is argued to be an effective demand-side policy to trigger environmental innovations. However, the empirical evidence on its innovation impact is limited. We construct a novel firm-level dataset to investigate the effect of winning public procurement tenders with additional environmental award criteria on firms’ introduction of environmental innovations. Employing cross-sectional difference-in-differences methods, we find that winning public procurement awards with environmental selection criteria increases a firm's probability of introducing more environmentally friendly products on average by 20 percentage points. We show that this effect is driven by small and medium-sized firms and is not statistically significant for larger firms. Furthremore, there is no statistically significant effect on the introduction of more environmentally friendly processes.

Environmental awards and their relevance to the environmental commitment of organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of environmental awards and analyze their relevance to the environmental commitment of organizations.Design/methodology/approachExtensive desk research, using secondary data and multiple documental sources on the environmental awards offered in Brazil.FindingsConcerning their characteristics, awards are voluntary, do not have a standard set of guiding principles or regulations, can be offered by any desiring entity (accredited or not) and usually have qualitative evaluation methods. Regarding the contributions to social responsibility, organizations have been using awards to increase the visibility of their environmental efforts, reinforce their environmental image and disseminate environmental values and behaviors, especially within specific groups or communities. Consequently, it is argued why awards’ promotion or winning can be considered additional evidence of environmental commitment but should not be taken as a definite measure of environmental performance.Originality/valueThis paper provides a new perspective about awards, understanding them as types of recognition, and therefore, comparable to certification and labeling. Another contribution is gathering of awards’ characteristics, which can help analyze awards across several other fields, such as social responsibility, quality, innovation and public services.

Environmental certification and hotel market value

To counteract the negative publicity derived from environmental impacts and avoid.potential “greenwashing” accusations, hotels resort to third-party entities to certify their commitment to the environment. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of environmental certifications on hotels’ market value. To fill this gap in the literature, this empirical study detects all announcements of environmental awards ever made by major publicly traded hotels in the United States. The findings show that environmental certification has a positive effect on hotels’ market value (reducing the effects of the alluded negative publicity); that this positive effect is higher for first-time awards; and.that a U-shaped effect exists for subsequent awards. Managerial implications for.hotels’ engagement in environmental awards are described. • Environmental certification has a positive effect on hotels’ market value. • Environmental certification’s positive effect is higher for first-time awards. • A U-shaped effect exists for subsequent awards. • Hotel size and year of the announcement are influential variables.

Paul Anastas wins the Volvo Environment Prize 2021

Abstract Paul Anastas, a Yale professor and pioneer in developing non-hazardous chemicals, wins the 2021 Volvo Environment Prize, one of the world’s most respected scientific environmental awards. The research of Paul Anastas “is revolutionizing the chemical industry, a key contribution to meeting the sustainability challenge,” says the Prize Jury.

Assessing Green Human Resource Management and Environmental Performance: Evidence from Government Linked-Company

Environmental performance is a new initiative to reduce the natural disasters that occur as a result of climate change. To foster environmental performance among employees in the organisation, green human resource management is one the prominent functions to mobilize the green culture in the organisation. This study sought to assess the impact of green human resource management (in the form of green recruitment, green training and development, and green performance management) on the environmental performance among employees in government linked-company via a qualitative research technique. Using thematic analysis, in-depth semi-structured interviews are utilised to arrive at conclusions with regards to the performance of the environment by assessing green human resource management. Research findings demonstrated that the green human resource management significantly opens more opportunities to the government linked-company to succeed in its environmental performance, and simultaneously awards more recognition in terms of environmental certifications and awards . Most respondents agree that the green integration to its human resource function contributes more awareness to the employees on the environment. While some respondents stated that few difficulties will be facing to maintain it but there are always solutions to overcome the issue. In conjunction with these findings, this study strongly recommends to all public sectors and public agencies to implement the green practices within the aspects of human resource. It is not to add the burden for the human resource functions, even it helps the organisation to reduce cost and save the environment.

Can environmental awards stimulate corporate green technology innovation? Evidence from Chinese listed companies.

Based on the environmental awards granted by credible third parties to recognize firms' devotion to environmental protection, this study examines the impact of environmental awards on firms' green technology innovation by using a data sample comprising Chinese A-shares listed firms for a period of 2007 to 2019. Our results show that environmental awards can significantly promote corporate green technology innovation. This finding remains valid after endogenous and robustness testing, including the alternative measure of green technology innovation, and the replacement of the estimation method with the Poisson regression and the negative binomial regression. Additional tests reveal that this influence is exerted through increased long-term loans and government environmental subsidies. Moreover, our study reveals that this effect only exists among non-state-owned enterprises, companies with high financial risk, and heavily polluting enterprises. Compared to extensive studies on how environmental regulation forces companies to conduct green technology innovation, this study provides essential guidance on the role played by positive incentives in driving corporate green technology innovation from the perspective of environmental awards.

Green Tourism

Green tourism is defined as environmentally friendly tourism activities with various focuses and meanings. In a broad term, green tourism is about being an environmentally friendly tourist or providing environmentally-friendly tourist services. The green tourism concept would be highly appealing to tourism enterprises and operators owing to increasing governmental pressure to improve environmental performance by adopting effective and tangible environmental management techniques. Green tourism is a form of tourism involving visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas, intended as a low-impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism. Its purpose may be to educate the traveller, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human rights. Green Tourism has been considered a critical endeavour by environmentalists, so that future generations may experience destinations relatively untouched by human intervention. Furthermore, the achievement and promotion of internationally recognized environmental awards would be instrumental to the tourism enterprises in marketing their services. As a result, many concerned and responsible parties put forward recommendations for green tourism products to regulate tourism’s negative impacts. This conceptual paper attempts to discuss the green tourism concept its processes as well as explain approaches of green tourism industry can legitimately open up new areas for the more discriminating and wider range of the market, and tourists or visitors can enjoy the holiday they want with a clear conscience. Responsible green tourism programs and plans include those that minimize the negative aspects of conventional tourism on the environment and enhance the cultural integrity of local people. Therefore, in addition to evaluating environmental, social and cultural factors, an integral part of green tourism is the promotion of recycling, energy efficiency, water conservation, and the creation of economic opportunities for local communities. For these reasons, green tourism often appeals to advocates of environmental and social responsibility. Marketing people -all in public, government and private level specialists- working in the tourism sector, should configure the best green solutions for the current and future strategies. The real green alternatives are needed to suggest a new perspective(re-thinking process) about tourism marketing strategies.

Information Modelling Management and Green Public Procurement for Waste Management and Environmental Renovation of Brownfields

Information Modelling and Management (IMM) methods for Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) can promote the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices. Despite the wide regulatory framework and existing drivers, Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) trends are still growing. The literature review analyzed IMM and CDW management implementation during design phases although few studies focused on Green Public Procurement (GPP) and CDW management integration from the Public Client’s point of view. This research aims at investigating the integration and efficiency of MEAT and IMM to promote the application of sustainable strategies focused on waste reduction and resource valorization. The study investigates the Public Client’s role in promoting sustainable practices, introducing digital material inventory and BIM during the design phases, and including environmental award criteria in the call for tender documents. A Design Build (DB) procurement model was considered in the case study of a brownfield renovation and the construction of a new school in northern Italy. The methodology provided the Public Client and included a method to evaluate the environmental impact of the bids, allowing for proper selective demolition planning, CDW decrease, and organization while promoting their integration in companies’ expertise and procedures. The replicability of the methodology is demonstrated by positive results of present and previous case studies.

Do Politically Connected Firms Pay Less Toward Environmental Protection? Firm‐level Evidence from Polluting Industries in China

This study empirically investigates the role of political connections in corporate environmental spending. It employs a sample of listed Chinese firms from polluting industries within the 2010–2013 period. Our empirical results show that having politicians as directors reduces the magnitude of discharge fees. We also find that such reductions are more pronounced in firms with a higher ratio of politically connected directors (i.e., listed Chinese polluting firms that are privately controlled). This negative relationship is robust to various model specifications (e.g., a sample of polluting firms after addressing the sample selection bias and reverse causality without an increase in new investment). Moreover, we observe that the negative relationship between political connections and discharge fees is stronger in listed Chinese polluting firms located in more polluted regions. Meanwhile, a polluting firm's incentive to engage in environmental protection, measured by firm‐level environmental awards (incidents), alleviates (exacerbates) the negative relationship. Finally, the impact of politically connected directors on discharge levies is explicitly driven by having local officials and officials from the home province as directors.

Does Green Public Procurement Trigger Environmental Innovations?

Green public procurement has gained high political priority and is argued to be an effective demand-side policy to trigger environmental innovations. Its implementation usually takes the form of environmental award selection criteria in public procurement tenders. However, there is no direct or broad empirical evidence on its innovation impact. There are even doubts about its effectiveness as an innovation policy tool, as it does not require innovations as part of its contracts and might only influence the selection of awardees in public procurement tenders. We construct a novel firm-level dataset to investigate the effect of winning green public procurement awards on firms' introduction of environmental innovations. Employing cross-sectional difference-in-differences methods, we find that winning green public procurement awards increases a firm's probability of introducing more environmentally friendly products on average by 20 percentage points. We show that this effect is driven by small and medium-sized firms and is not significant for larger firms. There is no significant effect on the introduction of more environmentally friendly processes.

Alberto Curamil and the Goldman Prize: Discussion of Cultural Sustainability in the Region of La Araucanía

The following article discusses the recent winner of the Goldman prize, Mapuche leader Alberto Curamil, as a case in the struggle for cultural sustainability in the Region of La Araucanía, mainly in his role as an activist in the defense of Mapuche territory and culture. This important international environmental award was conferred on Curamil for uniting Chileans in preventing the construction of two hydroelectric projects and protecting a river sacred to the Mapuche people, overcoming violent persecution and attacks against him in this activity. This makes it possible to problematize different aspects of cultural sustainability that are key in the region, in particular the issue that arises between the progress of industry and the ancestrality of indigenous peoples. Thus, it is interesting to discuss from this case how these two views can be harmonized in order to achieve cultural sustainability, bearing in mind the intercultural nature of the IX Region. Finally, this communication seeks to analyze the role of the Chilean State and its actions concerning the practices of cultural sustainability like those led by Curamil.

Exploring factors relating to extinction disclosures: What motivates companies to report on biodiversity and species protection?

AbstractThis paper seeks to contribute to the existing business strategy and the environment literature by investigating the disclosure practices of biodiversity/extinction (B/E) and threatened species. We use greenwashing theory to understand global companies' motivation to report on B/E information. Data are collected from 200 Fortune Global companies for 3 years. We develop our comprehensive 53 disclosure index and create and test OLS regression model to measure the relationships between B/E disclosures and its determinants factors including environmental performance, industry sector, country, assurance, environmental awards, presence of biodiversity partners, and the number of species' related disclosure. Our results reveal that there are positive significant relationships between B/E disclosure and assurance provided by the Big 4: gaining an environmental award, companies from high biodiversity risk sectors, developing countries, presence of biodiversity partners, and how many specific biodiversity words are published in companies' reports. On the other hand, there are positive insignificant relationships between B/E disclosure and assurance: poor performers and the number of species disclosed in companies' reports. Our findings have important implications for regulators and policymakers. Our evidence appears to be robust when controlling for possible endogeneities.

Measuring environmental orientation in hotels: empirical evidence from Sri Lanka

ABSTRACTThe paper presents a quantitative approach to measure environmental orientation in hotels. It proposes a composite indicator, which consists of five individual indicators, namely environmental records, environment policy, environment management systems, involvement in relevant projects/programmes and receipt of environmental awards and certifications. The paper also attempts to empirically assess factors affecting environmental orientation of hotels using primary data collected through a survey of hotels. The paper finds that hotel characteristics play an important role in hotel’s environmental orientation. Customer characteristics and manager characteristics do not show a statistically significant relationship to environmental orientation in hotels.