Environmental and Resource Impacts from an Aggressive Regionalized Carbon Peak Policy.

When and how to achieve a carbon peak is a concern for provincial regions within China under the context of achieving carbon neutrality in 2060. This study investigates the overall carbon peak environmental and resource impacts under current national targets and Shanghai's latest more aggressive carbon peak policy by using a dynamic multiple-region computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for the year 2030. Results show that (1) the national carbon peak and the more aggressive regional policy in Shanghai will result in energy consumption and carbon emissions decreases when compared to the business-as-usual scenario in most provinces; (2) although some cobenefits in water use reduction may occur in most provinces under the carbon policy scenarios, the results show positive and negative variations; (3) provincial level environmental and resources in transport, electricity, metal smelting and pressing, and agricultural production sectors are most influenced by Shanghai's aggressive carbon peak policy; and (4) the outsourced environmental and resource impacts from Shanghai to other provinces are very significant under Shanghai's aggressive carbon policy. These relevant results provide insights to facilitate broader governance decision-making for environmental resource nexuses while seeking an improved understanding of global sustainable development and climate governance.

Examining the role of BRICS countries at the global economic and environmental resources nexus.

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) are central to future global economic development. However, they are facing both environmental and natural resource stresses due to their rapid economic growth. This study examines the balance between economic benefits and cost of environmental emissions and resource usage in BRICS countries so that future sustainable development insights can be provided. The historical trends of carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), water, land, energy and material footprints of these countries from 1995 to 2015 are evaluated with a multi-regional input-output model. Also, whether a decoupling relationship exists between economic development, environmental emissions and resources consumption, is examined. In addition, whether environmental emissions and resource usage costs to obtain identical economic gains of these countries in global trade are explored. The major results show that in congruence with economic development, the average annual growth rates of footprint indicators ranged from 0.2% in 1995 to 9.8% in 2015. A decoupling effect did not occur for CO2 emissions or water consumption but did exist for other indicators. Global trade across the supply chain shows to achieve a unit of USD economic benefit from trade, BRICS countries tend to use relatively greater environmental emissions and resource consumption to high income countries, when compared to other income level countries. These emergent economies did receive relatively greater benefits per environmental emissions and resource usage cost from lower-middle and low-income countries.

Greening the Belt and Road Initiative: Evidence from emergy evaluation of China's provincial trade with ASEAN countries.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a central policy within China's regional development and foreign trade strategy. Traditional trade has typically depended on economic valuation of resources, while the embedded environmental value is rarely considered. This situation exists in most BRI trade evaluations. To address BRI environmental sustainability issues, we consider the role of pivotal Chinese provinces and their key trade partners (ASEAN countries) as an illustration for the environmental value of resource exchanges. Emergy accounting is used as the valuation tool for a sample period of seventeen years. Key results include: (1) Emergy valuations show sustainability of sample provinces decreased over time; (2) ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam play significant resource roles for provincial economic systems; (3) Diverse trends in trade between pivotal provinces and ASEAN countries resulted in an unbalanced trade structure from trade. Policy implications are proposed to promote a more globally sustainable and fair trade using BRI as an established trade policy.

Motivating green public procurement in China: an individual level perspective.

Green public procurement (GPP) practices have been recognized as an effective policy tool for sustainable production and consumption. However, GPP practices adoption, especially in developing countries, is still an issue. Seeking to help understand these adoption issues, we develop a conceptual model which hypothesizes moderation effects of GPP knowledge on the relationships between GPP drivers and practices. Using primary data collected from 193 Chinese government officials, we find that regulations, rewards & incentive gains, and stakeholders exert pressure to motivate adoption of GPP practices. Knowledge of GPP regulations, responsibilities and experiences in developed countries is found to be limited. The study also found that voluntary regulations may actually be demotivating GPP practices. This study contributes to further theoretical and practical understanding of GPP practices. The findings can be helpful for policy makers, especially those in developing countries, to establish promotion and diffusion mechanisms for GPP practices as an important sustainable development tool.

Institutional pressures, dynamic capabilities and environmental management systems: investigating the ISO 9000--environmental management system implementation linkage.

We hypothesize a model where domestic and international institutional pressures lead to the successful implementation of ISO 9000 and can in turn lead to the successful implementation of environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 environmental certification systems or total quality environmental management (TQEM) systems. Using appropriate tests for mediation with dichotomous mediators and outcomes, we find that the model holds for a sample of 377 Chinese manufacturers in six major industrial groups in Suzhou, Dalian, and Tianjin. Our findings are consistent with the theory linking internal capabilities to heterogeneous external (in this case, institutional) pressures on organizations for environmentally proactive efforts. Our findings suggest that institutions in developing countries with significant environmental concerns such as China as well as foreign suppliers and partners to firms in these countries should encourage and support ISO 9000 implementations by local firms. These findings may influence other developing nations' adoption of quality and environmental process systems.

Advancing Fintech through a transdisciplinary approach.

The term "Fintech" is a portmanteau of "financial technology." Fintech is an emerging field that can be advanced through interdisciplinary collaboration, contributing to the fourth industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0 (Doherty & Stephens, 2023). It is used to augment, disrupt, or enhance traditional financial services (Thakor, 2023). However, there is no universally agreed-upon definition for Fintech, as it varies depending on the characteristics of Fintech companies and the sectors, they operate in. The advancement of technology, particularly in the Fintech industry, has sparked extensive debates on the opportunities and challenges for businesses, consumers, and the labor force. The introduction of new Fintech technologies is expected to disrupt educational systems at all levels, necessitating the cultivation of fresh talent, which, in turn, requires an immediate and proactive response from higher education institutions and the business community. This collaboration between higher education and industry partners requires re-evaluation in order to equip the workforce with the skills needed through skilling, reskilling, and upskilling.

Clean energy transitions and health.

Clean energy can lead to significant health benefits. Making it accessible throughout the world can address many ills. We delve deeply into one example-the transition toward clean residential heating and its relationship to health benefits-in China. We find that the health benefits can outweigh costs from energy expenses in northern provinces. Low-income households enjoy larger health benefits but also experience a higher expense increase, suggesting that extra subsidies or stimuli are needed to help them benefit from clean energy. Our findings suggest that clean energy transitions should be promoted in developing economies due to improved social health, lessened medical costs, and significant environmental improvements.

Safety Concerns for the Management of End-of-Life Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Lithium-ion battery (LIB) usage is growing dramatically worldwide. Relatedly, there is a need for the management of end-of-life (EOL) LIBs. EOL requires closed-loop systems and supply chains. Although many studies related to managing EOL in closed-loop supply chains exist, one especially pernicious issue is overlooked-safety. This study seeks to address this major safety oversight for EOL LIBs using closed-loop supply chains that are critical to a larger circular economy environment. The evaluation is completed along a technology-organization-environment (TOE) framework; potential research directions for mitigating safety issues are part of the analysis of this study. Specific and general research questions pertaining to secure management of EOL LIBs are put forward to help advance academic research. Practical concerns are also described for policymakers and organizations. This study reveals implications of these questions for the intersection of materials science, supply chain management, and fire-protection engineering.

COVID-19 pandemic digitization lessons for sustainable development of micro-and small- enterprises.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has undeniably influenced the global economy and environment. Major victims of the COVID-19 outbreak are Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs), especially in developing countries, mainly because of limited use of digital technologies. This paper employs a literature review and personal insights to provide COVID-19 pandemic digitization lessons for sustainable development of MSEs from a technology for social good perspective. We develop a framework to support post COVID-19 digital transformation for sustainable development of MSEs. We find that digital payments, especially mobile money, should be a critical digital transformation priority for MSEs. Also, institutions must support MSE resources and capabilities to adopt digital transformation for business continuity, and sustainable production and consumption. Our study suggests that MSE managers and other stakeholders rethink their business strategies, incorporating crisis scenarios and business continuity plans to sustain customers virtually to enhance sustainable development. We also propose further research areas to improve the successful digital transformation of MSEs post COVID-19.

Redesigning Supply Chains using Blockchain-Enabled Circular Economy and COVID-19 Experiences.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed businesses and societies to the shortfalls of normal patterns of production, consumption, and their long-lasting impact on supply chains. In this opinion paper, we provide insights from the COVID-19 pandemic for making supply chains more resilient, transparent, and sustainable. These insights include supply chains needing to develop localization, agility, and digitization (LAD) characteristics. We link LAD to a potential solution using blockchain technology and circular economy principle capabilities. Use cases are used to show how blockchain-enabled circular economy practices can support supply chain LAD efforts. Supply chain tracking, tracing, and responsiveness can be supported through blockchain-enabled circular economy practices. One result of identifying these relationships include solutions and insights at multiple levels and stakeholders - individual, organizational, supply chain, governmental, and community. These crisis-related observations and findings set a future research foundation for sustainable production and consumption.

From Sustainable Global Value Chains to Circular Economy-Different Silos, Different Perspectives, but Many Opportunities to Build Bridges.

A growing interest in the circular economy concept has pushed the discourse in various management-related disciplines beyond established boundaries, with calls to better address how such a model may be developed in a world of global value chains. Still, the conventional linear economy model continues to dominate business, society, and research. While the concept of better connecting physical output and input flows at multiple production or consumption levels is becoming more accepted, it remains unclear how to make this happen while ensuring that sustainability targets are met or exceeded. Multiple scientific communities contribute different perspectives to this discourse, with promising opportunities for research. Circular economy and sustainability from business and economics perspectives are multifaceted. The existing body of knowledge needs to be advanced to assist private individuals, business managers, investors, or policymakers in making informed decisions. In this article for the inaugural issue, we provide a snapshot of the discourses among those who have studied the circular economy and its related topics. We outline conceptual inroads and potential research questions to encourage further circular economy and sustainability research and discourse from business or economics perspectives as well as from the broader transdisciplinary angle. We propose three research pathways: (1) connecting output with input needs in a global circular economy; (2) beyond today's business logic for a global circular economy; and (3) inclusion of the Global South in North-dominated circular economies. For each, we propose concepts, theories, or methodological approaches and offer various perspectives from the micro, macro, and meso levels.

Overcoming the Arrogance of Ignorance: Supply-Chain Lessons from COVID-19 for Climate Shocks.

The effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic remind us of our arrogance of ignorance. Society has suffered. We are emerging scarred but enlightened. Can COVID-19 lessons help us avoid repeating the same mistakes with future climate shocks? We offer a supply-chain perspective and a set of pragmatic actions to increase resilience to climate shocks.

Evolution of China's water footprint and virtual water trade: A global trade assessment.

Water embodied in traded commodities is important for water sustainability management. This study provides insight into China's water footprint and virtual water trade using three specific water named Green, Blue and Grey. A multi-region input-output analysis at national and sectoral analysis levels from the years 1995 to 2009 is conducted. The evolution and position of China's virtual water trade across a global supply chain are explored through cluster analysis. The results show that China represented 11.2% of the global water footprint in 1995 and 13.6% in 2009. The green virtual water is the largest of China's exports and imports. In general, China is a net exporter of virtual water during this time period. China mainly imports virtual water from the USA, India and Brazil, and mainly exports virtual water to the USA, Japan and Germany. The agriculture sector and the food sector represent the sectors with both the largest import and export virtual water quantities. China's global virtual water trade network has been relatively stable from 1995 to 2009. China has especially close relationships with the USA, Indonesia, India, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Australia. Trade relations, resource endowment and supply-demand relationships may play key roles in China's global virtual water footprint network rather than geographical location. Finally, policy implications are proposed for China's long term sustainable water management and for global supply chain management in general.

CH4 mitigation potentials from China landfills and related environmental co-benefits.

China's CH4 emissions from 1955 existing (old) and 495 planned (new) landfills are estimated and projected by adopting a bottom-up method, targeting a 2012 baseline year and a 2030 projected target year. Nine key CH4 mitigation measures are proposed for the CH4 mitigation assessment from landfills. Approximately 0.66 million metric tons (Mt) of CH4 and 1.14 Mt of CH4 will be released, respectively, from new and existing landfills under a 2030 business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, which is 23.5% lower than a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimation. It is estimated that 0.60 and 0.97 Mt of CH4 can be reduced under new policies (NP) and low-carbon (LC) policy scenarios, respectively. The combined biocover and landfill gas collection and flaring system is the most promising mitigation measure, while mechanical biological treatment and mineral landfill also contribute substantially to CH4 reduction. The odor-affected population under NP and LC scenarios will decrease by 39.5 and 64.2%, respectively, when compared to the 2030 BAU scenario. The LC scenario is a recommended policy for meeting China's nationally determined contribution targets and reducing the not-in-my-backyard impact due to this policy's significant reduction of CH4 emissions.