The European Green Deal (EGD) provides a strategic framework for the European Union’s (EU) transition to climate neutrality by 2050. Yet, limited integration of socio-economic dimensions may hinder its long-term success and fairness. This study investigates the indirect impacts of socio-economic factors on EGD performance by constructing a Green Deal Performance Index (GDPI) using a multi-criteria decision-making approach for 22 EU countries over 2010–2020. We then apply an instrumental variable regression approach to estimate how emissions, shaped by structural socio-economic conditions, affect the GDPI. Our results show that the negative impact of emissions is nearly 47 times larger when socio-economic dynamics are ignored. These findings underscore the necessity of inclusive policymaking for achieving carbon neutrality, contributing to discussions on ensuring a just transition by highlighting the critical role of socio-economic dynamics. We also present implications for policymakers developing fair and equitable strategies promoting sustainability and social justice in this context.

This study uniquely explores the impact of militarization on carbon emissions in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries from 1985 to 2019 using panel econometric techniques. NATO countries, characterized by substantial defense budgets, advanced technologies, high industrialization, and significant energy consumption, offer a unique context for examining these factors. Employing the Pooled Mean Group Autoregressive Distributed Lag (PMG-ARDL) and FMOLS models, the research analyzes the long-term and short-term dynamics across three groups: traditional NATO members (Group 1), new NATO members (Group 2), and a combined group (Group 3). Relevant variables used in the estimation are industrialization, technological innovation, energy consumption, and economic growth. Findings reveal that in Group 1, military expenditure and energy consumption significantly increase carbon emissions, while industrialization and technological innovation reduce them. In Group 2, increased military spending and industrialization reduce emissions, but energy consumption and technological innovation increase them. For Group 3, economic growth significantly drives emissions, whereas industrial advancements and selective technological innovations mitigate them. The study underscores the need for tailored environmental policies and technological advancements to reduce carbon emissions, contributing to sustainable development within military alliances. These insights are crucial for policymakers aiming to balance defense needs with environmental sustainability in NATO countries.

China's energy strategies have attracted a huge amount of attention, precisely because they have been so effective. Chinese energy companies - from global oil and gas giants, to new wind and solar power success stories as well as electric grid operators, not to mention rising Electric Vehicle (EV) producers - have all had an impact on the industry, and sometimes shaken it up. In solar Photovoltaic (PV) cells there are aggressive counter-moves being made by both the US (and potentially the EU) against Chinese subsidized exports. These threaten to spill over into related sectors, and could trigger an all-out trade war.

Pharmaceutical distribution routing problem is a key problem for pharmaceutical enterprises, since efficient schedules can enhance resource utilization and reduce operating costs. Meanwhile, it is a complicated combinatorial optimization problem. Existing research mainly focused on delivery route lengths or distribution costs minimization, while seldom considered customer priority and carbon emissions simultaneously. However, considering the customer priority and carbon emissions simultaneously will not only help to enhance customer satisfaction, but also help to reduce the carbon emissions. In this article, we consider the customer priority and carbon emission minimization simultaneously in the pharmaceutical distribution routing problem, the corresponding problem is named pharmaceutical distribution routing problem considering customer priority and carbon emissions. A corresponding mathematical model is formulated, the objectives of which are minimizing fixed cost, refrigeration cost, fuel consumption cost, carbon emission cost, and penalty cost for violating time windows. Moreover, a hybrid genetic algorithm (HGA) is proposed to solve the problem. The framework of the proposed HGA is genetic algorithm (GA), where an effective local search based on variable neighborhood search (VNS) is specially designed and incorporated to improve the intensification abilities. In the proposed HGA, crossover with adaptive probability and mutation with adaptive probability are utilized to enhance the algorithm performance. Finally, the proposed HGA is compared with four optimization algorithms, and experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the HGA.

The agriculture and food sectors contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. About 15 percent of food-related carbon emissions are channeled through restaurants. Using a contingent valuation (CV) method with double-bounded dichotomous choice (DBDC) questions, this article investigates U.S. consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for an optional restaurant surcharge in support of carbon emission reduction programs. The mean estimated WTP for a surcharge is 6.05 percent of an average restaurant check, while the median WTP is 3.64 percent. Our results show that individuals have a higher WTP when the surcharge is automatically added to restaurant checks. We also find that an information nudge—a short climate change script—significantly increases WTP. Additionally, our results demonstrate that there is heterogeneity in treatment effects across consumers’ age, environmental awareness, and economic views. Our findings suggest that a surcharge program could transfer a meaningful amount of the agricultural carbon reduction burden to consumers that farmers currently shoulder.

This paper examines whether green Official Development Aid (ODA) has a significant role in mitigating carbon emissions in recipient countries, and if institutional quality matters for the effectiveness of green ODA. For 86 green ODA recipient countries over the period 2003–2014, we explore the nexus between green ODA, institutions and carbon emissions. By using a two-step system generalized method of moment (GMM), we find that green ODA overall has no direct association with the mitigation of carbon emissions. However, when institutional quality indices are included, we found a significant effect of institutional quality on the effectiveness of green ODA. In general, green ODA is associated with higher carbon emissions in countries with poor institutions. In particular, green ODA is effective in mitigating carbon emissions when channeled to countries that enjoy higher economic freedom as well as more freedom from corruption. Results are mixed for the rule of law.

In the rapidly expanding literature on the ethics of climate engineering, a lot has been made of the fact that stratospheric aerosol injection would for the first time create a world whose climate had been intentionally shaped by deliberate human decisions. Intention has always mattered in ethics. Due to the importance of intention in assigning culpability for harms, one might expect that the moral responsibility for any harms created during an attempt to reconstruct the global climate using stratospheric aerosols would be considerable. This article investigates such an expectation by making a comparison between the culpability for any unintended harms resulting from stratospheric aerosol injection and culpability for the unintended harms already taking place due to carbon emissions. To make this comparison, both types of unintended harms are viewed through the lens of the doctrine of double effect. The conclusion reached goes against what many might expect. The article closes by suggesting that a good way to read this surprising conclusion is that it points toward the continuing moral importance of prioritizing emission reductions.

In his article “Carbon Emissions, Stratospheric Aerosol Injection, and Unintended Harms,” Christopher J. Preston compares the culpability of carbon emitters versus that of geoengineers deploying stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI). This comparison relies on a parallel between carbon emitters and SAI deployers that requires both to be agents. However, both are not. While the harms of geoengineering will be caused by culpable agents acting intentionally, the harms connected to climate change emerge out of the uncoordinated actions of billions of people. Taken as a large group, carbon emitters cause harm but do not constitute an agent. Taken individually, carbon emitters are agents but do not cause the harms of climate change. As a result, the parallel collapses, and Preston's “surprising” conclusion is one that he is not entitled to reach.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the world's two largest countries requires feasible governance pathways that integrate politics, policy and administration. Using examples of successful mitigation at the local level in China (Guangzhou) and India (Gujarat), this article identifies integrated governance solutions that work in both cases through different types of linkages. In China, it is mainly intra-governmental linkages, while in India it is mainly state–society linkages. In neither case do international negotiations concerning emissions targets have significant effects, while national frameworks have only marginal effects. Approaching the problem in this comparative manner helps to clarify how greenhouse gas governance operates in each country, the lessons for central–local environmental relations, and the implications for international assistance.

The purpose of this study is to determine the navigation efficiency for transiting from various ports in Asia and Rotterdam in Europe via the Northern Sea Route. Navigation efficiency was derived from fuel consumption ratios. Preliminary research results showed that fuel consumption and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions was reduced by transiting from various ports through the European Sea Route, and the navigation efficiencies of the various ports ranked in the following descending order: Yokohama - Busan - Shanghai - Kaohsiung - Hong Kong - Singapore. The higher the ratio was, the lower the navigation efficiency of using the Northern Sea Route, i.e. more fuel was consumed and travel costs were higher. In contrast, the lower the ratio was, the higher the navigation efficiency, i.e. less fuel was consumed and travel costs were lower. Recommendations were discussed in the study.

Pasture systems for grass-fed beef production in the Gulf Coast region were evaluated for profitability and sustainability over the period 2009/2010 to 2011/2012. May-weaned steers were divided into groups and randomly placed into different pasture systems. Data on input usage, output quantities, and carbon emissions were recorded and analyzed. The least complex grazing system yielded higher profit than the most complex, but the most complex produced the lowest greenhouse gas impact. A trade-off was found between profitability and greenhouse gas impact among the systems.