Peer firm’s ESG pressure, executives’ green perception and sustainable development- An empirical study from Chinese listed companies

How does green finance development enhance bank stability? Evidence from ASEAN countries

Green, circular buildings are crucial for climate change mitigation and resource efficiency, yet their employment impact in Sub-Saharan Africa remains unclear. This paper explores green job potential in Kigali, Rwanda—an urbanizing city with strong policy commitments and urgent housing needs. Employing a sequential mixed-methods design, we conducted 33 expert interviews and surveyed 546 firms across five construction value chain segments. We find that (1) many green jobs already exist, with 5.1% highly green and about 58% partly green based on practices performed; (2) green and circular practices are emerging through both policy support and grassroots innovation, (3) greening is positively, significantly correlated with employment growth for highly green firms, and (4) greening is significantly associated with improved job quality for all firms. Targeted support for firms in critical greening phases could boost job creation and quality. A mix of interventions is required to tackle cost competitiveness, skills and attitudes.

Green innovation fuels nuclear energy development in times of external tensions and security challenges

Air quality and health benefits of green transformation in the brick and tile industry: A case of Chenzhou, a typical industrial city in Hunan province, China

Public services and urban green development: Empirical evidence based on city-level data

Artificial intelligence policies and corporate green development: evidence on impact mechanisms

Quantifying agricultural green development in Jiangxi Province, China: Implications for low-carbon transition

Artificial intelligence and firms green performance: The mediating roles of product- and customer-oriented servitization strategies

Plant diseases have consistently threatened global crop safety, impacting both the yield and quality of agricultural products. So, to develop novel and safe disease prevention and control drugs, 20 multisubstituted carbazole analogues bearing hydrazone and peptide scaffolds were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for antifungal and antiviral activities. Carbazole amino acid amides exhibited superior antifungal efficacy, with compound 10b showing potent activity against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (EC50 = 41.88 μg·mL-1). Conversely, N-acylhydrazone carbazole derivatives demonstrated enhanced antitobacco mosaic virus (TMV) activity, with 6a achieving 80.3% inhibition at 500 μg·mL-1; notably, 10b also displayed significant antiviral effects (66.7% inhibition). Structure-based molecular docking against succinate dehydrogenase (SDH, PDB: 3ABV) and TMV coat protein (TMV-CP, PDB: 1EI7), coupled with electrostatic potential analysis, identified these carbazoles as privileged scaffolds for multitarget green pesticide development to combat resistance and ensure agricultural sustainability.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the role of policy at multiple levels in green regional industrial path development. While existing research on green path development generally acknowledges the role of policy, less is known about how different policy levels interact. To address this gap, we develop a conceptual framework informed by global production networks and multilevel governance and explore the different roles that policy can play. We draw on a case study of the automotive industry in Gothenburg, the centre of the Swedish automotive industry. Our data includes interviews with key stakeholders, including major automotive companies, battery producers, and policymakers. The findings highlight the important role of supranational policy in shaping green path development in regions, primarily through regulations and directives. National policy serves as intermediary, bridging the gap between supranational directives and their local implementation by offering financial incentives, tax benefits, and research funding. At the regional level, policy is central for fostering interactive knowledge exchange, promoting new collaborations among automotive firms, battery producers, research institutes, and other actors. In conclusion, our analysis underscores the critical role of policy in the development of green growth paths and provides a more nuanced perspective on how different policy levels interact.

Against the backdrop of growing resource constraints and ecological degradation, green development has emerged as the core pathway for advancing sustainable economic transformation. Using data from Chinese A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges between 2010 and 2023, this study examines the impact and underlying mechanisms of the environmental fee-to-tax reform (EPFT) on corporate green governance performance (GGP). We find that EPFT significantly improves corporate GGP and this positive effect exhibits clear heterogeneity. It is stronger in non-resource-based cities while insignificant in resource-based cities, where stronger local environmental regulation can offset the policy's ineffectiveness. In terms of industry characteristics, the effect is significant in non-heavy-polluting and capital-intensive industries but insignificant in heavy-polluting and non-capital-intensive industries. For managerial characteristics, the effect is concentrated in firms led by executives with environmental education or work experience, particularly CEOs, while it is insignificant for those without such backgrounds. Mechanistically, EPFT enhances GGP by alleviating financing constraints, attracting green investors, and promoting green innovation. Furthermore, EPFT strengthens the spillover effects of GGP on corporate ESG performance and CSR fulfillment, and ultimately reduces carbon emission intensity by elevating GGP levels. These findings provide empirical support and actionable insights for optimizing the environmental tax system and advancing regional sustainable development.

How AI can contribute to green sustainable development (GSD) in China is a critical yet underexplored question. Leveraging the staggered implementation of the National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development Pilot Zone (AIPZ) as a quasi-natural experiment, this study employs a difference-in-differences approach with panel data from 285 prefecture-level cities (2017–2022). The main findings are threefold. First, AI directly promotes GSD and, more importantly, indirectly enhances GSD by upgrading new-quality productivity (NQP)—a novel mechanism that distinguishes this study from conventional environmental policy evaluations. Second, the facilitating effect is not uniform: significant positive effects are detected in the western, eastern, and central regions, but not in the northeastern region; among major urban agglomerations, the Pearl River Delta, Chengdu-Chongqing, and Yangtze River Deltaexhibit significant effects, whereas the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region does not. Third, spatial spillover analysis reveals that AI’s favorable effect on GSD spreads primarily through intercity similarity in economic development level. These findings provide actionable insights for policymakers aiming to harness AI for sustainable development, highlighting the importance of fostering NQP and designing regionally differentiated strategies.

Increasing urban vegetation coverage is associated with improved human health and well-being, reduced environmental impact of cities and enhanced urban resilience to climate change. To support evidence-based urban planning, this study quantifies the mortality benefits, equity implications and cost-benefit ratio of several scenarios of green space development in Paris by 2040, including the replacement of car-dedicated surfaces with green spaces and a best-case scenario. This quantitative health impact assessment is based on estimated changes in the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), obtained through the estimation of the dynamic effects over time using a Difference-in-Differences approach based on previous public greening interventions, and on an exposure-response relationship linking NDVI and all-cause mortality. It was conducted at the sub-municipal level (IRIS) and incorporates a social deprivation index to assess health equity implications. Vegetation costs are drawn from a previous French study estimating urban soil restoration prices. Replacing surplus on-street parking and 20% of street space with vegetation could reduce all-cause mortality by around 0.8%, while reaching 15% of vegetation coverage in each IRIS could prevent around 3% of deaths yearly in Paris as early as 2040. For all scenarios, these benefits were approximately equally distributed across deprivation levels. Predicted monetised health benefits outweigh intervention costs by 2035, with further impacts representing net gain. In conclusion, greening interventions targeting car-dedicated space in Paris would equitably improve health while supporting more sustainable and resilient cities.

Extra-heavy oil is an important strategic energy resource, but its ultra-high viscosity severely limits efficient production. Conventional thermal recovery and chemical flooding are often associated with high energy consumption, environmental concerns, and limited reservoir adaptability. In this study, an intelligent responsive magnetic Janus nanocatalyst (IRMJN) was developed and coupled with microwave irradiation to enable low-energy and controllable in situ upgrading and oil mobilization. IRMJN features a spatially separated multifunctional architecture, in which Fe₃O₄ serves as the magnetic core for rapid recovery, MoS₂ nanosheets are selectively anchored on one side as catalytic active sites, and graphene quantum dots enhance microwave absorption to generate a synergistic nanoscale hotspot effect. Long-chain alkyl groups grafted onto the magnetic side further impart interfacial orientation capability. Under optimized conditions, the IRMJN-microwave system reduced the viscosity of extra-heavy oil by more than 95% at a bulk temperature of 100°C, clearly outperforming microwave treatment alone and conventional catalytic systems. Core flooding tests showed an additional oil recovery of more than 18.5% after water flooding. The catalyst also exhibited excellent magnetic recoverability and cycling stability. These results provide a promising strategy for the green and efficient development of extra-heavy oil resources.

Green development through disruptive financial technology and modern Belt and Road spillover: a pathway to the net-zero future in Asia, Europe, and Africa

This study investigates the configuration paths of value co-creation in the green supply chains of Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) enterprises. Drawing on value co-creation theory, a four-dimensional analytical framework comprising consensus, sharing, resonance, and integration is developed to explain multi-actor collaboration under sustainable development. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) based on data from 18 representative NEV enterprises, the study identifies four synergistic configurations-Digital Leverage, Collaborative Dual-Drive, Digital Sharing, and Consensus-Driven-that lead to high-level green supply chain development. The results reveal that consensus, sharing, and resonance frequently co-occur as mutually reinforcing conditions, while information-sharing platforms constitute the core infrastructure for effective collaboration. Moreover, the findings challenge the prevailing assumption that green transformation requires short-term profit sacrifice, demonstrating the feasibility of achieving both sustainability and profitability through coordinated multi-actor value co-creation.

Biomass-derived furfural has become an ideal alternative to fossil fuels, capable of being converted into various high-value chemicals and fuels. Consequently, the study of highly efficient electrocatalyst systems for the hydrogenation of furfural (FF) to furfuryl alcohol (FA) has emerged as an effective approach to achieving green and sustainable development. In this study, we developed a highly efficient electrocatalyst for the hydrogenation of FF to FA by depositing rhenium (Re) on Cu nanowires, which achieves an ideal conversion of 99% and a yield of 92.5% in electrocatalytic reduction at -20 mA cm-2, with no significant performance degradation after five consecutive cycles. Various characterization analyses demonstrated that the deposition of Re enhanced the chemical adsorption capacity and improved the selectivity for FA production. In situ Fourier Transform Infrared (In situ FTIR) spectroscopy further revealed that Re doping boosts the adsorption of FF, and the strong electronic interaction between Re and Cu in the Re-decorated Cu nanowires enhances the selectivity for FA. This work demonstrates that tuning adsorption properties is an effective strategy to enhance the electrosynthesis of value-added biomass-derived chemicals.

The pulping and paper-making (P&P) industry is one of the world’s largest manufacturing sectors, yet it is plagued by high water/energy consumption and massive discharge of highly polluted wastewater. The effluents from pulping, bleaching and papermaking processes are characterized by high chemical oxygen demand (COD), intense color, toxic adsorbable organohalides (AOX) and abundant refractory lignin, which pose significant threats to aquatic ecology and human health. Although conventional physical, chemical and biological treatments have been widely applied, they are constrained by insufficient degradation efficiency toward recalcitrant organics, high cost and potential secondary pollution. In recent years, electrocatalytic technologies including electrocatalytic oxidation, electroreduction and their integrated processes, have demonstrated superior efficacy in specific scenarios of P&P wastewater treatment, such as lignin degradation, toxic side-streams treatment, pretreatment for enhancing biodegradability, and polishing steps in integrated treatment systems, which are not universally applicable solutions for P&P wastewater remediation. Meanwhile, biomass fuel cells typified by direct biomass fuel cells (DBFC) and microbial fuel cells (MFC) provide promising pathways for synchronous pollutant removal, energy production and resource recovery. Representative studies have reported COD removal efficiencies of 60–100% for electrochemical and advanced oxidation processes, while integrated electro-Fenton–biological treatment increased the BOD/COD ratio from 0.34 to 0.52 and achieved an overall COD removal of 94%. It should be noted that these advanced electrochemical technologies are still confronted with challenges in industrial scale-up, high energy and electrode material costs, and stable continuous operation. This review systematically elaborates on the physicochemical properties, generation mechanisms and environmental impacts of P&P wastewater, comprehensively summarizes the mainstream treatment technologies including physicochemical, biological, electrochemical and integrated processes, and analyzes their reaction mechanisms, efficiencies and applicable conditions. Particular emphasis is placed on electrocatalytic treatment and bio-electrochemical valorization strategies. This review is anticipated to provide a valuable reference for the efficient and targeted treatment as well as sustainable utilization of P&P wastewater, thereby supporting the green and low-carbon development of the P&P industry.

ABSTRACT Recent literature on green regional industrial path development discusses knowledge dynamics between actors, the roles of agency, institutions, policy, and regional assets. However, the role of demand remains underexplored, despite its potential influence on sustainability transitions in regions. This paper conceptualises demand as a driver of change within regional innovation systems (RIS), integrating insights from socio-technical transitions into regional path development. Empirically, the paper focuses on the food industry in southern Sweden. Drawing on in-depth interviews conducted over an eight-year period, the paper examines how (and whether) changes in demand, driven by societal challenges, can support long-term sustainability transitions in regions. The findings show that the industry first experienced a growing shift towards plant-based food products, driven by increasing environmental awareness and consumer demand for sustainable alternatives to meat and dairy products. However, recent developments, such as an altered geopolitical context, have led to changes in consumer behaviour, with a renewed preference for traditional foodstuffs. Shifts in consumer demand can hence be volatile to external pressures, constituting a potential source of instability in green regional industrial path development.