This study examines plastic wood as a crucial element for environmental sustainability, highlighting its role in plastic waste reduction and the promotion of the circular economy. By transforming plastic waste into a useful construction material, plastic wood not only decreases plastic pollution but also provides a sustainable alternative to traditional building materials. The research reveals how plastic wood production significantly contributes to the conservation of natural resources by minimizing the need for extracting new raw materials, thus reducing the carbon footprint and energy consumption associated with the manufacturing of conventional construction materials. Additionally, the analysis of the social and economic impact of plastic wood adoption indicates that its implementation fosters job creation, drives innovation in green technologies, and promotes local economic development. These benefits underline the importance of plastic wood not only from an environmental perspective but also as a driver for sustainable development and social inclusion.

Beyond the linear: Green technology innovation, moderators, and global value chain upgrading

The hidden spillover effects behind the green curtain: government environmental concern and green technology innovation in manufacturing

To explore or exploit for legitimacy: The effect of retail investor environmental concern on corporate green technological innovation

ABSTRACT This study explored the impact of environmental regulation on green technology innovation (GTI) of listed Chinese companies from 2007 to 2019. The findings revealed that, first, the command and control regulations positively affected GTI through the operating costs. Second, R&D mediated the relationship between the environmental subsidies under market-based incentive regulations and the GTI. Third, informal regulations of news media reports have significantly promoted GTI in energy-intensive enterprises. This promotional effect was found through the mediating variables of financing constraints. Fourth, we also have found that environmental subsidies were the most important incentive policies for promoting GTI. We have conducted a verification of both the weak and strong of the Porter hypothesis. Based on these results, management policies have been suggested.

This study investigates the influence of financial innovation on environmental sustainability, advancements in green technology, and the generation of renewable energy. Utilizing annual data from 18 OECD countries spanning 2009 to 2021, the analysis employs Panel-Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE), Westerlund-Edgerton LM Bootstrap Cointegration tests, and Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality tests. The findings reveal that financial innovation significantly enhances environmental quality. Moreover, it is observed that financial innovation stimulates green technological advancements, fostering the development of eco-friendly technologies. Additionally, financial innovation plays a pivotal role in boosting renewable energy production. These results offer valuable insights for policymakers aiming to advance environmental sustainability and promote green investments. The study highlights the potential of financial innovation to drive both environmental and economic progress by accelerating growth in green technology and renewable energy sectors

Environmental sustainability and green technology development is an international need that has driven major developments in environmental technology especially on biodegradable items development and environmental surveillance. It is a critical review of how industrial innovation and policy frameworks can be amalgamated towards the promotion of sustainable environmental management practices. This paper examines and discusses the role of environmental awareness as a foundational element of encouraging the adoption of green technology through systematic study of the environmental education programs of secondary schools in the region of Owerri and Mbaise of Imo State Nigeria. The study is done using comparative case study methodology where data collected on 210 students in six schools are examined to determine the levels of environmental awareness, attitudes, and engagement in environmental activities. Results indicate that 83.7% of the respondents in Owerri and 71.2% in Mbaise exhibit the level of environmental concepts awareness, and the education exposure and pro-environmental behavior have significant correlations. According to the study, the gaps in the content delivery of environmental education are critical with half of students being satisfied with the existing curriculums. The assessment of the development trends in biodegradable materials suggests that there is significant advancement in polymer science, and the focus is on the principles of a circular economy and waste reduction plans. Monitoring systems regarding the environment have also changed considerably with Internet of Things integration and smart city projects, where real-time data can be collected and analyzed. It is observed that industrial innovation should also be seen as a key contributing factor to the development of green technologies, which is sustained by the policy frameworks that promote sustainable practices. The study shows that effective environmental education along with technological innovation and conducive policies have synergistic effects in promoting the environmental sustainability objectives.

The current retired recycling system suffers from “systemic coordination failure”, primarily due to ambiguous responsibility boundaries hindering interenterprise collaboration, unequal profit distribution discouraging technological innovation investment, and low participation from both consumers and recycling enterprises undermining the efficiency of recycling channels. However, the simplified tripartite game models commonly adopted in existing research exhibit significant limitations in explaining and addressing the above practical challenges, as they fail to incorporate consumers and third-party recyclers as strategic decision-makers into the analytical framework. To address these issues, this study develops, for the first time, a five-party evolutionary game model involving governments, vehicle manufacturers, battery producers, third-party recyclers, and consumers within a reverse supply chain framework. We further employ system dynamics to simulate the dynamic evolution of stakeholder strategies. The results show that: (1) When tri-party synergistic benefits exceed 15, the system transitions from resource dissipation to circular regeneration. (2) Government subsidies reaching the threshold of 2 effectively promote low-carbon transformation across the industrial chain. (3) Bilateral synergistic benefits of 12 can stimulate green technological innovation and industrial upgrading. (4) Establishing a multi-stakeholder governance framework is key to enhancing resource circulation efficiency. This research provides quantitative evidence and policy implications for constructing an efficient and sustainable power battery recycling system.

Carbon emission trading policies serve as a crucial market-oriented instrument for achieving China’s “dual carbon” goals and form a strategic pillar in global climate governance alongside national economic transformation. Using data from A-share listed companies in China between 2010 and 2023, this study employs a multi-period difference model to examine the impact of carbon emission trading policies on corporate green and low-carbon transitions. The findings reveal that implementing such policies effectively promotes corporate green transition with robust results. Enterprises exhibiting regional diversity, varying scales, or ownership structures demonstrate heterogeneous responses to these policies. Mechanism analysis indicates that enhanced green technological innovation amplifies the policy’s positive effects on corporate green transition, while digital transformation levels mitigate its inhibitory effects.

In the new normal economic development environment, the digital economy, as an emerging driving force, plays a key role in the promotion of the green economy. This paper takes the cities of the Huaihe River Ecological Economic Belt from 2007 to 2022 as the research object, and analyzes the mechanism of the digital economy on urban green total factor productivity based on the two-way fixed effect model. The study shows that the digital economy significantly promotes the green total factor productivity of cities in the Huaihe River Ecological Economic Belt by improving green technology innovation and optimizing the investment structure, and the effect is uneven in the east and low in the east and low in the west (negative in the west).

In the context of global warming, cities are the core source of carbon emissions, and promoting their low-carbon transformation is the key to China’s implementation of the “double carbon” goal. This paper aims to systematically sort out the frontier achievements of China’s urban low-carbon transformation, and build a comprehensive theoretical analysis framework. At the theoretical level, it traces the evolution of the concepts of decarbonization, LCD and LCT, clarifies the logical relationship, and integrates the theories of ecological modernization and sustainable development to lay the foundation for transformation. At the empirical level, this paper analyzes the suitability of IPCC, IOA and LCA carbon accounting methods and the index evaluation system, identifies that per capita income, energy structure, population size, industrial structure and green technology innovation are the main driving factors affecting carbon emissions, and summarizes the emission reduction effects of low-carbon city pilot, carbon trading market and other policy tools, revealing that the distribution pattern of carbon emissions is high in the East and low in the west, with significant spatial spillover effect, and that individual behavior plays an important role in low-carbon transformation. At the same time, this paper also points out that the current research still faces challenges such as insufficient theoretical localization, lack of micro mechanism mining, incomplete data system and poor policy adaptability, and puts forward corresponding future policy prospects, so as to provide theoretical reference and practical guidance for promoting the development of low-carbon transformation in Chinese cities.

Against the backdrop of global efforts to address climate change and China’s “dual carbon” goals, enterprises characterized by high energy consumption and high emissions are facing urgent pressure to transition to low-carbon practices. Green finance, as a key tool for guiding capital flows to green and low-carbon sectors, plays an irreplaceable role in alleviating the financing gap for transformation and driving green innovation in enterprises. This article aims to systematically elucidate the intrinsic mechanism and practical path of green finance in helping Chinese enterprises achieve low-carbon transformation. The study first outlines the concept and types of green finance, as well as the evolution of China’s green finance policy system. Furthermore, the paper delves into the three core mechanisms of capital allocation, risk management, and incentive constraints to analyze how tools such as green credit, green bonds, ESG ratings, and carbon pricing can promote corporate emission reduction and green technology innovation. Finally, considering the current challenges such as inconsistent standards, information asymmetry, and inadequate tools, policy recommendations are proposed to improve the standards system, accelerate product innovation, and cultivate professional talent. This article argues that green finance, through market mechanisms, effectively empowers enterprises to achieve low-carbon transformation and is an important financial guarantee for promoting systemic economic and social changes and achieving carbon neutrality goals.

Retraction Note: Assessing the Impacts and Mechanisms of Green Bond Financing on the Enhancement of Green Management and Technological Innovation in Environmental Conservation Enterprises

This paper focuses on China’s double carbon goal and addresses the challenges of high carbon emissions from excessive fossil fuel consumption and low energy efficiency, aiming to explore the impact mechanisms of environmental regulation with carbon tax as the core and technological progress on China’s economy and environment. It constructs a dynamic general equilibrium model encompassing four sectors: household, government, polluting enterprises and non polluting enterprises as well as two systems: economic system and environmental system, with parameters calibrated based on China’s actual economic data and existing literature research methods, and dynamic market clearing analysis involving administrative and market behaviors adopted for in-depth research. The study finds that increasing environmental taxes leads to U-shaped growth in residents’ utility with short-term decline due to enterprises delayed technological adjustment and tax transfer while long-term improvement driven by technological progress, and environmental taxes also promote enterprises green technological innovation and output expansion; notably, the synergistic effect of environmental regulation and technological progress significantly boosts enterprise productivity, increases the production share of non polluting goods and strengthens the government’s environmental governance capacity, ultimately achieving a win-win for economic development and environmental improvement. To advance the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals, China should prioritize tax-based environmental regulation, improve the national carbon emission monitoring and management platform, vigorously promote industrial structure upgrading, increase support for green technology research and development, expand government investment in pollution control and fully implement supporting policies to optimize the energy structure and ecological environment.

The influence of the digital economy on green technological innovation is essential for the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces between 2011 and 2023, this study establishes a dual fixed-effects model to investigate how the digital economy affects green technological innovation, considering both quantity and quality. It innovatively explores the roles of high-tech industry agglomeration, high-tech talent agglomeration, and their synergistic agglomeration. This study reveals the following: (1) The digital economy has a significant promotional effect on both the quantity and quality of green technological innovation, and this finding has been consistently verified through an array of robustness tests. (2) Mechanism results show that high-tech industry agglomeration, high-tech talent agglomeration, and their synergistic agglomeration all have a “multiplier effect”, but the impact intensity of synergistic agglomeration is less than that of single agglomeration. (3) Further exploration of the threshold effect of synergistic agglomeration shows that, concerning the quantity of green technological innovation, a higher level of synergistic agglomeration corresponds to a stronger promotional effect. In terms of quality, the promotional effect reaches its peak after the degree of synergistic agglomeration crosses the first threshold and weakens after crossing the second threshold. (4) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the positive impacts of the digital economy on green innovation are more pronounced in Eastern and Central China than in its western regions. Moreover, a lower environmental regulation intensity favors innovation quantity, while a higher intensity promotes quality. Additionally, the facilitative effect is the strongest in regions where greater attention is given by the government to green development. This study offers practical insights for sustainable global development, particularly in the context of developing nations.

As an in-depth integration of green capital chains and technological innovation chains, green fintech provides strong support for enterprises in promoting green and low-carbon development and achieving carbon neutrality. Based on relevant data from Chinese listed companies between 2014 and 2023, this study constructs indices for green fintech development and corporate carbon neutrality to empirically examine the impact of green fintech on corporate carbon neutrality. Benchmark regression results show that green fintech exerts a significantly positive effect on corporate carbon neutrality. A mediation analysis of financing incentives indicates that alleviating corporate financing constraints and reducing financial distress are effective pathways through which green fintech facilitates carbon neutrality. Furthermore, a moderating effect analysis reveals that green fintech plays a more pronounced role in enhancing carbon neutrality for enterprises with higher audit quality and larger operational scales. Accordingly, policy recommendations are proposed, focusing on establishing a green fintech service-sharing platform, providing targeted policy support, and improving carbon information disclosure mechanisms.

ABSTRACT Based on the quasi-natural experiment of implementing China’s Environmental Protection Tax Law in 2018, this study uses the DID model to empirically test the impact and mechanism of environmental protection tax (EPT) on regional energy efficiency. The results show that the EPT significantly improves regional energy efficiency, and its mechanism includes promoting green technology innovation and green financial support.

Financial supply side structural reform (FSSR) serves as a key for advancing the low-carbon transformation of industrial energy (LTIE) and supporting the dual carbon strategic goals. By using provincial panel data from China for the period of 2008–2022 and leveraging the national financial comprehensive reform pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment, this study uses the difference-in-differences method to examine empirically the effect of FSSR on the LTIE and the underlying mechanisms. Research findings indicate that, first, FSSR can significantly advance the LTIE, which remained unchanged after other policies, omitted variables, and other potential influencing factors were controlled. Second, the mechanism tests indicate that FSSR can drive the LTIE by increasing green financial support, fostering green industrial development, and promoting green technological innovation. Third, the heterogeneity tests reveal that the benchmark effect is pronounced in regions with weak environmental regulation and a low level of financial development. This study provides theoretical and empirical evidence to understand the crucial role of FSSR in advancing the LTIE and insights for relevant policy formulation.

ABSTRACT Against the backdrop of China’s burgeoning digital economy and the concurrent advancement of its dual carbon goals, whether enterprises can effectively enhance their ESG performance through digital transformation has emerged as a central concern across both academic circles and corporate practice. Drawing upon data from Chinese A-share listed companies spanning 2012–2022, this study empirically examines the causal relationship between corporate digital transformation and ESG outcomes. Findings indicate that digital transformation significantly promotes improvements in corporate ESG performance; Further analysis reveals that green technological innovation constitutes a crucial pathway through which digital transformation improves ESG performance. Environmental uncertainty negatively moderates the impact of digital transformation on ESG outcomes. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the positive effect of digital transformation on ESG is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises than in non-state-owned enterprises. This study provides empirical evidence for enterprises seeking to enhance their ESG through digital transformation, while also offering decision-making guidance for leveraging digital means to drive green technological innovation and thereby strengthen ESG performance.

ABSTRACT Under the background of ‘patient capital’ being valued, government-guided funds(GGF) can reduce the transaction costs of enterprises, leverage the continuous investment of social capital, which is essential in promoting the green energy technology innovation(Geti) of enterprises.This paper finds that GGF significantly promote corporate Geti through an analysis of enterprises defined as green credit linked under the 2012 Green Credit Guidelines.GGF promote innovation in energy-efficient utilization technology innovation (Eeuti) and alternative energy technology innovation (Aeti). Green-related enterprises demonstrate significant positive effects on Geti in growth enterprises, while exerting negative impacts on state-owned enterprises’ Geti and Eeuti. For non-state-owned enterprises, these effects are uniformly positive. Pollution-related enterprises only show significant positive effects on Eeuti in both growth enterprises and state-owned enterprises. This effect is mainly due to lower transaction costs and a higher capital factor.After introducing cumulative counts and amounts, GGF in green-linked enterprises boost both Geti and Aeti, with fund size also improving Eeuti; for pollution-linked enterprises, only Eeuti gains are driven by either metric.