Environmental Governance Research Articles

Digital Governance Hotspots and Trends: A Knowledge Mapping Analysis Based on CiteSpace

This paper summarizes the evolution and trends in digital governance from 2003 to 2023, highlighting China’s rapid development in this field. This study uses CiteSpace to identify research hotspots like frontier technologies and environmental governance. The study suggests that future digital governance in China should integrate technology with tradition, address sectoral risks, and utilize digital advantages for risk reduction, advancing national governance efficiency.

Can China's low-carbon city pilot policy facilitate carbon neutrality? Evidence from a machine learning approach

This study examines China's 2060 carbon neutrality goal using the Double/Debiased Machine Learning (DML) model to analyze the causal effects of the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) policy on urban carbon neutrality in 277 Chinese cities from 2008 to 2017. A series of empirical studies and robustness tests show that the LCCP policy has promoted carbon neutrality in Chinese cities. Through causal mediation analysis, this study identifies potential mechanisms, including increasing green credit, stimulating green innovation, optimizing industrial structures, and strengthening environmental governance. The LCCP policy has a varied impact on cities, depending on their resource endowments, geographical locations, and sizes. Furthermore, this study develops a green development index to assess the causal impact of the LCCP policy on green development, suggesting that it does not hinder the city's economic growth but rather enhances its quality and sustainability. This study provides empirical evidence for regional environmental governance and improvement strategies and offers valuable insights into China's transition from prioritizing rapid economic growth to achieving high-quality development.

The Contribution of Community Informatics in Rural Communities to Development

Community informatics (CI) is a generic term used to refer to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) deployed in communities to meet community needs, simplify day-to-day tasks, close digital divides, among other benefits. In practice, it is about the use of information and ICTs in community development efforts to enable and empower community processes so as to achieve community social, economic, cultural and political goals. On the other hand, community development is the promotion of participative democracy, sustainable development, human rights, economic opportunity, equality and social justice, through the organization, education and empowerment of people within their communities. This paper established the contribution of community informatics to the development of rural communities with reference to Kaliro district as a case study area. Using participative case study design and mixed methods research approach, responses from 173 CI users and 33 district workers engaged through questionnaire survey and interviews respectively were analyzed and results were presented quantitatively in tables and qualitatively under themes for interpretation. The study found out that CI contributed significantly to the district's social, economic, cultural, and political development. Towards social development, the CI promoted social connection and networking, ensured quick information flow, and fostered knowledge sharing. Towards economic development, they promoted trade and business, business and economic awareness, efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery, reduction in operational costs, job creation, income generation, and fostered new CI developments for businesses. Towards cultural development, they exported culture, promoted cultural awareness, tourism, and reinforced cultural freedom among the people of Kaliro district. In terms of political development, they had promoted government programs, human rights, provided government information, enabled civic education, eased follow-up on political developments, and fostered political stability in the district. Study findings showed that communities leverage CI and its infrastructure to keep up with information about government programs, health, environment, education, personal development, economic living, empowerment, and democracy, among others in a sense that triggers development. However, there is a general literature gap owing to the novelty of CI concept and the dearth in review evidence pointing out the contribution of CI to development of communities. Keywords: Community informatics; Community development; ICT4D; Kaliro district.

Understanding The Nature And Role Of Public Participation In Environmental Decision Making In Uganda

Public participation is a key element of sustainable environmental governance, especially in Uganda, where engaging diverse stakeholders is essential to addressing environmental challenges. This paper explores the nature and role of public participation in Uganda’s environmental decision-making, focusing on its legal framework, practical implementation, and effectiveness. It examines how the public helps shape policies, assess environmental impacts, and influence decisions at both local and national levels. Despite Uganda's progressive laws, such as the National Environment Act, public participation faces challenges like limited access to information, low awareness, and weak institutional support. This research highlights the importance of meaningful public involvement in improving environmental outcomes and fostering equity, transparency, and accountability. Strengthening public participation through capacity building, stronger legal enforcement, and partnerships between government, civil society, and communities is essential for achieving sustainable environmental governance in Uganda.

Exploring socio-economic and financial dimensions of rural small-scale gem mining in Passara, and Lunugala areas of Sri Lanka: Implications for sustainable development

Despite being rich in gem resources, the Passara, and Lunugala areas of Sri Lanka continue to experience poor economic and social development, lagging other regions of the country. This disparity raises the need to examine the underlying causes of their stagnation, despite the potential of the gem mining industry to drive growth. Therefore, the research problem seeks to explore "How do socio-economic challenges, financial inequities, and traditional practices in the rural gem mining industry of Passara, and Lunugala in Badulla district hinder its contribution to sustainable development and equitable growth?". Hence, the objectives of this study are two-fold: firstly, to identify the socio-economic challenges faced by workers and owners in the rural gem mining industry of Passara, and Lunugala. Secondly, to investigate financial disparities and power dynamics between investors/owners and workers in the gem mining sector, focusing on their impact on sustainable development. The research adopts a qualitative approach, employing interpretivism and inductive reasoning to assess the experiences, challenges, and aspirations of five investors/owners and fifteen workers in gem mining. The findings highlight critical socio-economic hurdles, financial disparities between owners and workers, and the need for policy interventions to foster equitable growth and environmental sustainability. Key recommendations include implementing Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) practices, advancing mining techniques, and introducing robust labor laws.

Leveraging intergovernmental data sharing for digital transformation in ecological and environmental protection

The data-sharing problem in the digital transformation of ecological environmental protection is a result of complex interactions and continuous strategic interactions among governments. While existing research has focused on the application and impact of digital technologies in ecological environmental protection, there remains a paucity of micro-level investigations into data sharing among different local governments regarding ecological environment protection. Notably, the issue of data barriers between local governments is particularly prominent. This paper analyzes the data-sharing problem in the digital transformation of ecological environmental protection through an evolutionary game model involving central and local governments, providing new perspectives and methods for understanding and improving data sharing and governance of ecological environmental protection, thereby promoting the digital transformation of the ecological environmental governance system and governance capacity. It finds that six stable equilibrium strategies can form based on local government participation levels, with the superior government's active promotion and regulation being crucial for achieving stable, multi-party participation. Key factors include the superior government's administrative costs and incentives, and local governments' benefits, costs, and risk considerations. The study highlights the importance of benefit-sharing rules and provides optimization strategies for enhancing intergovernmental data sharing.

Authoritarian environmentalism 2.0: An incremental transition of environmental governance in China

The recent policy practice in China has shown nuanced differences from previous accounts of authoritarian environmentalism. The emerging discourse of green transformation shows dual tendencies for (re-)centralizing and decentralizing environmental institutions. Our understanding of authoritarian environmentalism in China requires an update. We review the recent policy practice and the scholarly literature to advance a modified framework of authoritarian environmentalism. Using the Central Environmental Inspection Teams and emissions trading schemes as examples, we highlight the coordinated practice of strengthening state control while strategically using mass mobilization and market mechanisms. We argue that non-state actors and bottom-up tools are being absorbed into the politics of (re-)centralization. The centralizing state accommodates a limited range of participatory and decentralizing elements in an attempt to modernize the governance system. Our modified framework recognizes the mutually reinforcing authoritarian and liberal elements, and sheds light on the broader trends of environmental governance in China.

Spatial–Temporal Development Trends and Influencing Factors of Government Environmental Information Disclosure: Empirical Evidence Based on China’s Provincial Panel Data

Government environmental information disclosure (GEID) plays an important role in promoting the digital transformation of environmental governance, leading the concept of sustainable development, enhancing public oversight capacity, and promoting democratic decision-making governance. Using provincial panel data from China spanning from 2009 to 2021, we conducted spatial data exploratory analysis and used the dynamic spatial panel model to investigate the spatial–temporal development trends and influencing factors of GEID. The results show that (1) GEID in China exhibits significant spatial agglomeration characteristics, with an “H-H” (High-High aggregation type) agglomeration characteristic observed in three national strategic development regions: Yangtze River Delta, southeast coastal areas, and Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. (2) The spillover effect from the southeast coastal provinces gradually radiates to the northwest, resulting in an overall westward movement of GEID. (3) GEID exhibits a significant path-dependency feature in the temporal dimension and a “peer effect” in the spatial dimension. (4) Population size has the greatest impact on GEID. Population size, public participation, and the industrial and transportation sectors positively influence GEID improvement at the local level. However, they generate negative spillover effects to neighbouring provinces. Environmental status and the size of the Real Estate sector have no significant effect. Therefore, China should strengthen regional cooperation, narrow regional disparities, cultivate new quality productive forces, establish a government-led proactive disclosure mechanism under public supervision, and improve the level of GEID at the national level.

How wealthy in natural resource leads environmental sustainability in developing economies? An empirical investigation

This study investigates the impact of income generated from natural resources on environmental sustainability and analyses the moderating role of institutional quality in carbon emissions function. An extensive dataset from 61 developing nations covering the years 2000–2018 has been taken, which uses a dynamic heterogeneous panel data model. Our study follows a rigorous methodology by applying the pooled mean group estimator. An extensive examination of the impacts over the short run and long run is possible using this method. This study reveals multifaceted findings: in the short run, the effect of institutional quality and natural resources revenues on carbon emissions is insignificant, implying that such factors have a relatively minor impact. The long-term examination reveals that income derived from natural resources causes a spike in carbon emissions, which causes environmental deterioration and climate change. Strong institutional quality can significantly mitigate the adverse effects of correlation between revenues from natural resources and carbon emissions, which have been observed. The study's moderating effect of natural resources richness, which gradually reduces institutional quality's ability to reduce carbon emissions, is a crucial finding. Our study significantly advances the field of environmental economics, especially when discussing sustainable development in emerging nations with abundant natural resources. It emphasizes the delicate balance that must be struck between preserving efficient environmental governance and maximizing the richness of natural resources. Our findings underscore the crucial need for developing nations to strengthen their institutional frameworks and capacities and have substantial policy implications. These steps are essential to ensuring that the use of natural resources is in line with environmental sustainability objectives, turning resource curses into blessings for long-term development and environmental preservation. This research opens the door to sector-specific impacts and personalized policy interventions in resource-rich developing economies.

The Influence of Transformational Leadership Style and Competency Development on the Professionalism Index of State Civil Apparatus IPASN ) in Government Environment

Civil servants who are State Civil Apparatus (ASN) as one of the state servants and public servants are required to be pioneers in all fields, have high quality, dedication, and work ethic. One approach in an effort to improve ASN p erformance can be done through leadership. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of leadership style and competency development on the State Civil Apparatus Professionalism Index (IPASN) in the Jember Regency Government Environment. The num ber of respondents in this study was 72 people as leaders of Regional Apparatus Organizations (OPD). The sampling technique used was saturated sampling (census) where all populations/respondents were used as samples. The data collection technique used the questionnaire method through the distribution of google forms. The data processing technique used was descriptive statistics using a Likert scale. The results of the data analysis showed that transformational leadership style a nd competency development had a positive and significant effect on the State Civil Apparatus Professionalism Index (IPASN).

Information Technology Governance Between Iso 38500, Risk It and Val It in Private University

This study explores the application of the ISO 38500, Risk IT, and Val IT frameworks in improving IT governance at the university. ISO 38500 provides general guidance for IT management by boards of directors, while Risk IT focuses on IT risk management and Val IT focuses on managing the value of IT investments. Qualitative research methods were used, including interviews with key stakeholders at Pamulang University. The research results show that the integration of the ISO 38500, Risk IT, and Val IT frameworks has helped universities optimize strategic decision-making regarding IT. Implementation of this framework increases transparency, accountability and holistic IT risk management across the university. However, challenges faced include a lack of deep understanding of the framework and the need to ensure consistency in implementation. Recommendations for the university include more intensive training for staff, strengthening communication between different units, and developing performance metrics that align with the university's strategic goals. This research makes an important contribution to the practical understanding of implementing effective IT governance in higher education environments, by highlighting the benefits and challenges of integrating the ISO 38500, Risk IT, and Val IT frameworks.

Analisis Sentimen Terhadap Kendaraan Listrik di Indonesia Menggunakan Metode Klasifikasi Naïve Bayes

Indonesians' awareness of environmental issues and carbon emission reduction is driving interest in electric vehicles as eco-friendly transportation. The Indonesian government supports the transition from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions, as seen by the significant increase in the use of electric vehicles from 2021 to 2023. Ministry of Industry data shows this increase, supported by Presidential Regulation No. 79 of 2023. While electric vehicles offer benefits such as zero emissions and high efficiency, challenges such as limited charging infrastructure still exist. Public response is mixed, influenced by environmental awareness, government incentives, and technology. To understand public sentiment, this study uses sentiment analysis from social media X (Twitter) with the Naïve Bayes method. The test results show an accuracy of 84.13%, with a recall of 92.70% positive sentiment and 50.00% negative sentiment. Precision of positive sentiment reaches 88.06%, while negative sentiment is 63.27%. With a total of 2,468 datasets, 2,198 data were predicted as positive sentiment and 298 as negative sentiment. This research aims to provide an understanding of public sentiment towards electric vehicles, helping the government and the automotive industry in designing policies and promotions.

Graphene Composites and its Application in Environmental Treatment

Graphene, as a new two-dimensional material, is an ideal material for pollutant adsorption because of its large specific surface area and strong adsorption capacity. Moreover, graphene has an ultra-high electron transport capacity and can be used as a carrier of photocatalysis to further treat pollutants, so it has a wide range of applications in the field of environmental governance. However, with the application of graphene in the field of environmental treatment, the shortcomings of graphene are gradually exposed, such as easy aggregation, easy oxidation and biological toxicity. In recent years, in order to better meet the needs of removing pollutants in the environment and solve the shortcomings of graphene, graphene composites came into being. In this paper, three kinds of graphene composites which can solve the problems of easy aggregation, easy oxidation and biological toxicity of graphene are found out from thousands of graphene composites, and the basic properties, preparation methods and applications in environmental treatment are summarized respectively. They are graphene/metal oxide composites, porous foam/graphene oxide composites and graphene oxide/chitosan composites. At the same time, the application of graphene composites in pollutant adsorption and degradation and the problems existing in this process are also introduced in detail.

Resident Participation in Environmental Governance of Sustainable Tourism in Rural Destination

The rapid development of rural tourism has placed significant pressure on the rural environment, and relying solely on the government and market forces is insufficient for effective governance. It is urgent to integrate endogenous rural forces into environmental governance. The development of social behavior theory offers new insights into exploring sustainable approaches for resident participation in environmental governance in rural tourism areas. This paper, based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) theoretical framework from social behavior theory, outlines the entire process of rural tourism residents transitioning from individual stimuli to psychological responses and ultimately to participation in environmental governance. This study combines the Motivation-Opportunity-Ability (MOA) model to analyze the stimulus factors affecting local residents and jointly constructs a path mechanism model for resident participation in environmental governance in rural tourism areas. A total of 462 valid questionnaires were collected through a survey, and the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used for empirical testing to determine the path coefficients between variables. On this basis, a system dynamics model was constructed to simulate the dynamic evolution of the relationships between variables. This study found the following: (1) In the process of rural tourism, residents’ participation in environmental governance relies on motivational factors at the stimulus level to play a core leading role; opportunity factors act as catalysts, and ability factors serve as auxiliaries; participation willingness at the organism level plays a crucial role. (2) Material pursuit and formal institutions are the strongest single sustainable factors for residents’ participation in environmental governance in rural tourism areas; combinations of variables such as local attachment, governance knowledge, and governance identity have significant effects. It is recommended that future rural tourism leverage government guidance, coordinate interests, and adhere to a collaborative development approach to ensure the sustainable development of the rural tourism environment.

EU water diplomacy: A tool to strengthen the EU's soft power on environmental governance

AbstractThis article analyses the role of the European Union (EU) as a global governance actor in a multipolar and fragmented world. It focuses on the case of European Union water diplomacy, defined as the diplomatic and strategic use of water cooperation to promote peace, security, and sustainable development. The article argues that European Union water diplomacy is a tool to enhance the EU's soft power and influence in global environmental governance. Through an analysis of the European Union's main initiatives in this field, the article illustrates how the EU seeks to build alliances with other actors, promote multilateralism and the principles of international law, and support the participation of civil society and local communities. It concludes that European Union water diplomacy is an example of EU normative and transformative leadership that can contribute to the consolidation of a more just and sustainable international order.

Impact of Financial Inclusion and ESG on the Sustainable Growth of the Nation: Moderating Role of Poverty

The literature has a strong foundation for the contributions that financial inclusion (FI) and environment social governance (ESG) provide to the sustainable growth (SG) of the nation. This study looks at the relationships between FI and ESG with SG through moderating role of poverty in the nation. The study performs a quantitative analysis by utilizing the panel data regression model on 140 countries with a time period of nine years, that is 2011–2019. In this study, models have been tested for consistency with FE (fixed effect) or RE (random effect). In it, ATMs are used as a proxy of FI, DW_EG is a proxy of statistical performance indicators (SPI), Agr_Land are used as a proxy of Environment Social and Governance (ESG) and Pov_surv are used as a proxy of poverty. GDP_grw are used as a proxy of GDP growth (GDP per capita growth) and RP are used as a proxy of rural population. This study establishes three models, that is, Models 1, 2 and 3. The empirical findings demonstrate a significant linkage between ESG, FI and SG, whereas poverty is found insignificant. Further research confirms that the development of careful co-curation of ICT infrastructure, FI programmes and economic growth strategies is necessary to promote nation’s SG.

The Five-Year Plan and target allocation cycle of environmental pollution in China

Summary This paper establishes a theoretical connection between China’s Five-Year Plan (FYP) and environmental pollution. We propose a target allocation cycle theory to explain the periodic feature of environmental pollution, which advances political business theory in different institutional contexts. By analysing industrial SO2 and PM2.5 data as well as the political career data of officials in 277 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019, we reveal a significant influence of China’s political business cycles, as dictated by the FYP, on the periodicity of environmental pollution. Specifically, the emissions of industrial SO2 and PM2.5 exhibit a U-shaped periodic trend, peaking during the initial 2 years of each FYP, followed by a gradual decline in subsequent years, only to peak again in the first year of the succeeding FYP. These findings suggest that local political leaders strategically allocate their efforts in managing environmental pollution. Initially, there is a relaxation of environmental regulation during the early stages of a FYP, which is then followed by a shift towards more stringent environmental governance after the midpoint of the FYP.

Disentangling the temporalities of digital and predictive governance: Rhythmanalysis as a methodological framework

This paper discusses and develops rhythmanalysis as a methodological approach to dis­entangle the temporalities of digital and predictive governance; that is, how governance evolves through temporal ordering effects produced with, and through, digital technologies. Whilst rhythmanalysis, as it has become broadly used in the social sciences over the past decades, primarily focuses on ‘lived’ (rhythmic) practices of people, we argue that rhythmanalysis can also be developed as a framework to investigate the temporalities of digital governance environments. Using the field of education and, more specifically, the case of Early Warning Systems in US schooling as a worked example, we show how such a framework allows one to approach temporalities through, first, identifying chronorhythms (defined by chrono­logical time), kairorhythms (defined by identifying and intervening in ‘right’ moments in time) and algorhythms (defined by the design of a technology). The second dimension is to analyze relations between those rhythms; more notably, synchronization (i.e., the coordination of rhythms in time), sychorization (i.e., the coordination of rhythms in space) and disruption (i.e., the altering or coming to a stop of particular rhythms). Finally, the framework includes visualization as a third dimension of rhythmic analysis, specifically through practices of selecting, drawing and world-making. Overall, this framework can inspire scholars interested in empirically disentangling temporal and predictive governance, within and beyond the field of education.

Automatic Question Answering From Large ESG Reports

ESG reports contain crucial information about the corporations' environmental impact, social responsibilities, and governance. Many compliance audits rely on answering questions based on these reports. Moreover, for tasks such as Scope 3 GHG emissions estimation, a company needs to look at the ESG reports of all its typically numerous suppliers to tabulate its own compliance reports. Manually finding specific information from these large documents is immensely time-consuming. This paper presents the first system that automatically answers questions from an ESG report, using advanced machine learning and natural language processing. The proposed system also locates and highlights a cropped screenshot from the report providing the answer. The authors devise two methods for inferring the textual answer, one based on a transformer model pre-trained for extractive question answering and another using a large language model. The task-agnostic method overcomes the challenge of the lengthiness of ESG reports in a cost-effective manner.

Participatory Environmental Governance and Payments for Environmental Services: the Strategic Role of Universities

Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the integration of Participatory Environmental Governance into Payment for Environmental Services (PES) programs, with the aim of proposing a theoretical model that actively involves universities as facilitators in this process. Theoretical Framework: The theories of Participatory Environmental Governance and the Payment for Environmental Services model are highlighted, providing a solid foundation for understanding the research context. Method: A theoretical and qualitative approach is used. The study involves a review of existing literature on PES and Participatory Governance, followed by a discussion of the limitations of current models and the proposal of a new framework for the proposed integration. Results and Discussion: The results revealed the potential effectiveness of Participatory Environmental Governance in improving the equity and sustainability of PES programs. The relationships between community participation, universities, and the success of PES are highlighted. Research Implications: The implications of this research can be applied to public policies and environmental management practices. These implications may encompass areas such as environmental education, conservation policies, and the role of universities in sustainability. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the literature by proposing a novel integration between Participatory Environmental Governance and PES programs, highlighting the strategic role of universities. The relevance and value of this research are evidenced by its potential application in different contexts, promoting more participatory and sustainable natural resource management.