Wiley

Sustainable Development

Published by Wiley and Erp Environment

Online ISSN: 1099-1719

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Print ISSN: 0968-0802

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273 reads in the past 30 days

AI-driven adaptive learning for sustainable educational transformation

October 2024

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1,734 Reads

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83 Citations

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Veronika Grebennikova

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Alexander Lisovskiy

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Tatiana Vasileva

This paper scrutinizes how adaptive learning technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) are transforming today's education by making it personalized, accessible, and efficient as well as leading people to accepting, addressing, and mitigating sustainable development. Recently, education witnessed a remarkable technological surge driven by various advances in technology, which can be demonstrated by the increase of the number of scientific publications on this topic from just 1 in 1990 to 636 in 2023. Ongoing digitalization and technological revolution in education together with the novel approach to respect each student's unique learning style and abilities paved the way for adaptive learning technologies represented by the innovative tools that personalize educational experiences to cater to individual learners. All of that contributes to preparing more educated and informed citizens, drives innovation, and supports economic growth necessary for achieving a sustainable future. Our biblio-graphic study employs VOSviewer to conduct a bibliometric analysis of a total number of 3518 selected publications using the keywords "adaptive learning" and "AI" (represented by articles, proceeding papers, and book chapters) indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database from 1990 to 2024. Our results demonstrate that recent technological changes played a key role in transforming adaptive learning, which was rather reinforced by the "digital surge" in education brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings can be useful for further development in the field of adaptive education where they can be employed by the relevant stakeholders and policy-makers as well as by the scholars and researchers. K E Y W O R D S adaptive learning, artificial intelligence, bibliographic analysis, sustainable development

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210 reads in the past 30 days

Artificial intelligence and sustainable development during urbanization: Perspectives on AI R&D innovation, AI infrastructure, and AI market advantage

August 2024

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1,128 Reads

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44 Citations

This study explores the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on sustainable development across 51 countries during urbanization. Using panel data, the study examines AI's effects on sustainable development through three dimensions: R&D innovation, infrastructure, and market advantage. The results demonstrate that AI promotes sustainable development, with AI R&D innovation exerting the strongest influence, followed by AI infrastructure, whereas AI market advantage has the smallest impact. Additionally, the study uncovers regional heterogeneity in AI's impacts. In countries with upper middle sustainable development levels (60%-70% quantiles), AI's promoting effect is the strongest. Moreover, urbanization plays a threshold role in the relationship between AI and sustainable development. When urbanization is below the threshold, AI infrastructure and R&D innovation promote sustainable development, whereas AI market advantage inhibit it. Conversely, when urbanization exceeds this threshold, AI infrastructure inhibits sustainable development, the impact of AI R&D innovation becomes insignificant, and AI market advantage begin to promote sustainable development. This study recommends governments should consider the level of urbanization and sustainable development when crafting sustainable development policies utilizing AI.

Aims and scope


Sustainable Development is an interdisciplinary publication which seeks to address and discuss ways to deliver sustainable development. Papers must address issues associated with the achievement of sustainable development or one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have a large readership including policy makers in central and local government and NGOs; decision makers in business; academics; researchers; scientists; and engineers.

Recent articles


FIGURE 3 | Summarized results.
Demographic profiling.
Discriminant validity.
HTMT results.
Direct effect structural path results.

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Sustainable Development Supply Chain Mapping for High Risk Environment: Industry 4.0 and the Quest for Resilient and Sustainable Supply Chains
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  • Full-text available

May 2025

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6 Reads

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Noor Ismawati Jaafar

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Md

Amidst an increasingly volatile and competitive global landscape, compounded by political instability, supply chains are under growing pressure to effectively manage risks while advancing sustainable development goals. Industry 4.0 (I4.0) is increasingly recognized as a pivotal force in enhancing supply chain resilience by mitigating risks and fostering sustainable performance. However, specific mechanisms through which I4.0 capabilities facilitate improvements in resilience and sustainability are not thoroughly examined. Drawing on dynamic capability theory, this study investigates the transformative impact of I4.0 capabilities on supply chain mapping, resilience, and sustainable performance. This study specifically examines how mapping and resilience sequentially mediate the relationship between I4.0 capabilities and sustainable supply chain performance. Data collected from Malaysian manufacturing firms through a comprehensive closed-ended questionnaire is analyzed using PLS-SEM. The findings highlight the direct and indirect roles of I4.0 in improving sustainable performance, providing insights for enhancing resilience and ensuring sustainable development.


Fiscal Autonomy and the Path to Sustainable Local Economic Development: A Multilevel Municipal Analysis in South Africa

May 2025

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18 Reads

Despite fiscal reforms aimed at achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 17.1-strengthening domestic resource mobilization for development-the impact of fiscal autonomy on local economic development (LED) in South Africa remains underex-plored. Therefore, this study examines the impact of fiscal autonomy across 248 municipalities from 2009 to 2023, employing a range of advanced econometric methods. The results highlight a complex relationship: System Generalized Method of Moments analysis shows fiscal autonomy negatively affects LED in metropolitan municipalities (Category A) but has positive effects in the full sample, as well as in district (Category C) and local municipalities (Category B). The methods of moments quantile boot-strap regression shows that fiscal autonomy promotes LED across all quantiles for the full sample and in Category B. However, Category A exhibits a negative impact, whereas Category B shows an insignificant negative effect across all quantiles. These findings emphasize the need for differentiated policies. Metropolitan municipalities require targeted governance and fiscal reforms to mitigate negative outcomes while expanding fiscal autonomy for local and district municipalities could significantly enhance LED. This research offers practical insights for tailored fiscal strategies, promoting sustainable economic growth across South Africa's varied municipal landscapes.


Social Media and Sustainability Reporting: A Literature Review

May 2025

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17 Reads

Continuous technological advances have radically changed the means of disclosure that companies adopt. These media have evolved from traditional paper media and have started using the Internet as a new platform for disseminating information about companies. Recent studies show that even non‐financial information, such as sustainability disclosure, is disseminated on websites and social media platforms. Social media platforms allow for the creation and development of new forms of “corporate dialogue and stakeholder engagement”, that is, the various processes and strategies that firms and other organizations implement in their stakeholder relations. This article aims to understand, systematize, and frame existing studies regarding the relationship between sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement (dialogue) through social media, that is, how sustainability reports are influenced by and disseminated through social media. To achieve this aim, a systematic literature review (SLR) will be developed.


Equilibrium in Action: Unveiling SDG 10 Through Inequality and Sustainable Economic Growth

May 2025

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13 Reads

In the context of the intricate challenges inherent in sustainable development, the imperative to maintain a delicate equilibrium between sustainable economic growth and the attainment of SDG 10 (reducing inequalities) poses a significant and complex endeavor. Against this backdrop, this study examines the relationship between economic growth and regional inequality, utilizing satellite‐based nighttime light data. This study focuses on the Province Managing County (PMC) reform policy implemented in China in 2003, examining its role in fostering economic growth and addressing regional inequalities through a quasi‐natural experiment. The analysis reveals that while the PMC policy contributed to economic growth, it also had a negative impact on regional inequality. The analysis further reveals significant heterogeneity in the reform's effects, marked by increased inequality and accelerated growth in the eastern region, contrasted with reduced inequality in the west. Additionally, the study investigates the underlying mechanisms, finding that county‐level development expenditures rose following the policy change, while spending on social services such as education and healthcare declined. This indicates that heightened investment in infrastructure development spurred economic growth, albeit at the cost of amplifying regional disparities.


Toward Circular Economy: Digital‐Enabled Circular Economy Practices Enhancing the European Enterprise's Performance

May 2025

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10 Reads

As the dual transition toward a circular economy (CE) and digitalization becomes a global megatrend, the intersection between CE practices and digital technologies (DTs) has attracted significant attention. A key unresolved question is whether and how digital‐enabled CE practices lead to greater financial benefits for firms. To answer this question, this study investigates 7235 European firms to assess how the joint implementation of CE practices and DTs enhances firms' financial performance, drawing on resource orchestration theory. Our findings reveal that while CE practices and DTs each boost firms' financial performance individually, their combination leads to significantly greater gains. Using a quantile regression model, we found that DTs amplify the impact of CE practices, particularly for firms with superior financial performance. Moreover, when firms pursue multiple circularity objectives, the interaction between CE practices and DTs becomes even more pronounced in elevating firms' financial performance. In conclusion, the findings indicate that firms that strategically integrate CE practices with digitalization could achieve better environmental and financial outcomes, thereby enhancing their competitiveness and sustainability.


Drivers of Organic Product Consumption in the EU: A Sustainable Development Perspective

May 2025

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41 Reads

The aim of this study is to assess the diversification of consumption of organic products in the Member States of the European Union and to identify the key determinants that significantly influence per capita consumption of organic products. Data on the indicators for the period 2014–2022 were collected from the reports of the 21 European countries for the study. Common model, fixed effects panel linear regression with a dummy variable, and multilevel models equivalent to random effects panel regression models with maximum likelihood random effects and correlation methods were used to estimate per capita consumption of organic products. The analyses carried out have shown that the consumption of organic products in EU member states is characterized by a significant degree of variation. Denmark, Austria, and Sweden incurred the highest expenditures for this product group. One of the econometric models used in the study showed that GDP is an important driver of the per capita consumption of organic products, while the other two models used in the analysis did not show this relationship. The study showed that organic area as a percentage of total agricultural area, organic producers, and organic retail sales are significant predictors of organic consumption per capita. However, the impacts of CAP support on organic consumption have not been confirmed.


Factors Influencing the Adoption of Renewable Energies in Developing Countries

May 2025

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16 Reads

This study offers a comprehensive systematic review and bibliometric analysis of the determinants affecting renewable energy adoption in developing nations. By employing a methodology that integrates qualitative content analysis with bibliometric mapping, 201 articles published between 2019 and 2023 were examined. The results reveal a complex web of technological, economic, social, and political factors influencing clean energy implementation. A temporal analysis demonstrates a significant paradigm shift in the literature, from predominantly economic–financial determinants (37% in 2019) to the emergence of sociocultural factors as the primary drivers (32% in 2023) of renewable energy adoption. Noteworthy barriers include financial limitations, governance challenges, and societal resistance, whereas facilitators encompass innovations in business models and supportive policies. The bibliometric analysis highlighted significant geographical asymmetries in knowledge production, with research concentrated in China, India, and the United Kingdom, whereas extensive regions in Africa and Latin America remain underrepresented. These geographical disparities raise critical questions about the generalizability of findings across diverse socioeconomic contexts. This research emphasizes the importance of employing multifaceted and locally tailored strategies to drive renewable energy adoption, particularly those addressing emerging sociocultural dimensions. The study also explores implications for energy policy and suggests future research directions, advocating for more interdisciplinary, longitudinal investigations, and greater inclusivity in international research collaborations to ensure the representation of underserved regions.


Achieving Sustainable Development: Integrating Circular Economy and Natural Capital for Environmental Sustainability in Europe

Natural capital stock (NCS) is the center of our living and economic development, yet it poses significant environmental threats. Preventing environmental degradation is undoubtedly vital for sustainable development. The circular economy (CE) can resolve the dilemma at this critical juncture. Therefore, the study aims to investigate the dynamics between NCS, CE, and environmental sustainability (ENS) to identify effective pathways for achieving sustainable development. It establishes three fundamental pillars: (1) efficient use of NCS, (2) sustainable production and consumption through CE, and (3) securing ENS to achieve UN's Sustainable Development Goals−8, 12, and 13 (SDGs 8, 12, and 13). The research underscores a trinity solution, emphasizing the interplay between NCS, CE, and ENS for sustainable development. In the investigation, the study applies the method of moments quantile regression (MMQR), including the mean group estimation (MG), augmented mean group estimation (AMG), fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), and canonical cointegration regression (CCR). The findings demonstrate that while direct extraction of NCS harms ENS, integrating NCS into CE practices significantly mitigates these adverse effects and promotes ENS. Our research provides valuable insights for policymakers and recommends the “active” economic policy to achieve sustainable development through enhancing ENS.


Can Social Enterprises Be Sustainable Through Innovation and Social Performance‐Based Incentives?

May 2025

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2 Reads

This study explores how technology orientation and the innovativeness of social entrepreneurship enhance the financial and social performance of social enterprises through technology development capability. Drawing on the resource‐based view, composition‐based view, and contagion theory, the study empirically examines the mediating role of technology development capability and the moderating effect of social performance‐based monetary incentives. Based on data from the Social Progress Credit program in South Korea, results show that technology orientation and innovativeness of social entrepreneurship significantly strengthen technology development capability, which positively affects financial performance. However, no significant relationship is found between capability and social performance. Furthermore, monetary incentives increase the effect on financial performance but show limited influence on social performance. These findings contribute to understanding how internal innovation capabilities and external incentive mechanisms interact in social enterprises, offering practical implications for designing context‐sensitive strategies that support sustainable value creation in social enterprises.


Women's Health and Empowerment for Sustainable Development: Linking Sanitation Burden and Agency in Asia and Africa

May 2025

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16 Reads

This paper aims to explore a research gap at the intersection of public health and empowerment literatures concerned with women's health‐related sanitation experiences and their sanitation‐specific agency. We shift focus from prevalent scholarly engagement with women's wellbeing as an outcome of their agency by asking an unexplored question in the opposite direction: what is the association between women's physical and mental health‐related sanitation burden and their household‐level and community‐level agency outcomes? Data for this study come from a comprehensive socio‐demographic and sanitation‐specific empowerment survey of 5744 women across eight cities in Asia and Africa. Health‐related sanitation burden is operationalized using a validated health scale that measures women's perceived and actual physical and mental wellbeing as affected by sanitation options and conditions at or outside their homes. Household‐level agency outcomes are assessed by women's sanitation‐specific decision‐making and freedom of movement. Community‐level agency outcomes are assessed by decision‐making and collective action related to community sanitation. Data are analyzed using a novel hierarchical regression model that accommodates multi‐level fixed effects and clustered standard errors. We find that lower sanitation burden is significantly associated with higher household‐level decision‐making but lower freedom of movement, community‐level decision‐making, and collective action. Findings matter for public health because they systematically assess the sanitation burden borne by women in their everyday lives and the extent to which it can demobilize them from living a full life. Findings inform policy recommendations that can reduce women's sanitation burden toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals 5 (gender equality) and 6 (safe sanitation).


Paving the Pathways Toward Sustainable Innovation: Underperformance Duration and Corporate Innovation Willingness

May 2025

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4 Reads

Growth enterprise markets (GEM) firms aiming to achieve sustainable innovation still face underperformance due to uncertainty in the business environment. In fact, as underperformance duration increases, many GEM firms still show a sustained and strong willingness to innovate, which has seldom been systematically explored in existing studies. Based on corporate behavior theory and stakeholder theory and using data of Chinese listed on the A‐share market from 2016 to 2021, the impact mechanism of underperformance duration on corporate innovation willingness was empirically examined by employing multiple regression analysis. The results show that the primary transmission mechanism through which the underperformance duration enhances innovation willingness is by inhibiting corporate social irresponsibility; earnings management motivation (EMM) and the degree of industry competition jointly moderate the relationship between underperformance duration and innovation willingness. This study offers practical insights for firms seeking to improve their financial performance, achieve sustainable innovation, and build sustainable development competitive advantage.


Revisiting Sustainability Under Ecological Limits: A Dynamic Model of Capital Substitutability and the Case for Strong Sustainability

May 2025

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4 Reads

This paper develops a dynamic macroeconomic model to examine the long‐term viability of economic growth under ecological constraints. The model integrates produced and natural capital in a CES production function, incorporates a logistic regeneration process, and introduces a nonlinear sustainability condition that penalizes ecological depletion near critical thresholds. We simulate four scenarios: a baseline, reduced extraction, enhanced regeneration, and a circular economy with declining extraction intensity. Results show that, even under high substitutability, natural capital depletion leads to eventual economic decline if ecological regeneration is insufficient. The baseline scenario follows an overshoot‐and‐collapse pattern, while improved ecological settings delay collapse and sustain output longer. Notably, the circular economy scenario prevents collapse entirely within the simulated horizon, highlighting the effectiveness of time‐dependent efficiency gains. These findings challenge aggregate capital indicators and highlight the importance of ecological thresholds, dynamic feedbacks, and adaptive policy design. The model offers a unified and tractable framework to assess sustainability under biophysical limits and provides insights for policies that promote resource efficiency, ecosystem restoration, circular strategies, and long‐term resilience.


Unlocking Africa's Green Potentials for Sustainable Growth: Examining the Role of Renewable Energy Technologies, Biocapacity Protection, and Government Policies on CO 2 Emissions

May 2025

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26 Reads

This study examines the environmental determinants of CO 2 emissions across African countries from 2000 to 2020, employing Dynamic Common Correlated Effects (DCCE) and Bayesian Stochastic Quantile Regression (BSQR) approaches. The analysis reveals significant cross‐sectional dependence in environmental variables, particularly in renewable energy (51.2786, p < 0.01) and forest coverage (33.2233, p < 0.01). The DCCE estimation identifies substantial impacts of forest area (−0.3818, p < 0.01) and renewable energy (−0.0123, p < 0.01) on emissions reduction. Biocapacity demonstrates a notable transformational impact on emissions reductions (−54.1978, p < 0.01). The BSQR analysis uncovers quantile‐dependent relationships, with renewable energy's impact varying from −0.001 at lower emission quantiles to −2.641 at higher quantiles. Government policy maintains a consistent negative relationship (−0.0070, p < 0.01) in the long run, while R&D demonstrates increased importance (−0.0347, p < 0.01) compared to its lower quantiles. Sensitivity analysis confirms the robustness of these relationships, particularly for population growth (−1.4613, std = 0.2569) and R&D (−0.2064, std = 0.0459). These findings suggest that effective environmental policy in Africa requires temporally calibrated, regionally coordinated green approaches that account for varying emission levels across countries.


Enhancing the Resilience of Platinum Group Metal Supply Chains: Mine to (Re)use

April 2025

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13 Reads

Platinum group metals (PGMs) are critical elements that play a vital role in sustainable energy transition technologies such as catalysts, hydrogen production and use, and electronics. Securing a resilient PGM supply chain would support the current industrial, societal, and economic infrastructure. The end‐to‐end PGM supply chain comprises four stages: mining, processing, use, and end‐of‐life management (including recycling). Growing demand and limited supply pose threats to the PGM supply chain, stemming from shifts related to evolving green technology, limited resource availability, and various disruptions. These supply chain challenges require solutions that consider both engineering and supply chain perspectives. This study summarizes the risks and potential solutions by blending those perspectives and offers research directions to engineers (developing recycling technologies, finding alternative sources, and achieving PGM substitution) and supply chain experts (increasing supply chain transparency, buffering against geopolitical change, and realizing environmental and social sustainability) to increase the resilience of PGM supply chains.


FIGURE 1 | Network of international biodiversity frameworks and associated organisational relationships. CBD-led frameworks (distinct colour) serve as central coordinating elements. The UN and its related entities (second colour) maintain direct relationships with one another. The third colour represents the remaining organisations and their frameworks.
FIGURE 2 | Thematic analysis results. The main themes and sub-themes identified in the thematic analysis. Each theme is represented as a separate segment, with sub-theme frequencies shown as a percentage of the 18 frameworks assessed.
FIGURE 3 | Distribution of biodiversity-related implementation measures. Four radar graphs that each represent a different category of biodiversity implementation measure. The charts show the percentage representation of individual measures within each category across the 18 assessed frameworks. A Penalty chart is excluded due to its limited inclusion (see Supporting Information-Resource 3 for further details).
Recognising Seaweeds: Addressing Gaps in International Biodiversity Frameworks for Global Seaweed Conservation

April 2025

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94 Reads

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1 Citation

As anthropogenic pressures increasingly impact marine ecosystems and the biodiversity they support, governance mechanisms for international biodiversity conservation have emerged. Seaweed habitats are important repositories for marine biodiversity, and they provide crucial ecosystem services that support both ocean and human health. Despite their ecological significance, seaweeds have been overlooked in global conservation discourse compared to other marine habitats. This study provides a thematic analysis of 18 international biodiversity frameworks to assess the representation of seaweeds and explores ways to better integrate them into policies. Key obstacles preventing full integration include imperfect institutional coordination, inconsistent seaweed‐related terminology use, limited representation within biodiversity targets and the absence of legally binding agreements with enforcement mechanisms. To address these, the study provides recommendations to improve the integration of seaweeds into biodiversity frameworks, thereby supporting broader marine ecosystem resilience. Improved seaweed representation and conservation will contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life below water).


Driving SDG15: The Role of HEIs in Biodiversity Conservation Through Digitalization and Reporting

April 2025

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40 Reads

Education, research, and public engagement are key strategies guiding European higher education institutions (HEIs) in advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through stakeholder, legitimacy, and resource-based view theories, this study examines the contributions of HEIs to saving Life on Land (SDG15), focusing on the role of digital technologies and Partnerships (SDG17) in biodiversity conservation. Despite interest in biodiversity conservation and the adoption of digital technologies in HEIs, knowledge about SDG15 issues is still limited. A double-level content analysis through Leximancer v.5 and manual analysis was performed on 653 documents (191 sustainability reports and 462 website pages) from 50 European HEIs published between 2018 and 2024. The results highlight the key role of SDG17 and digital technologies in supporting biodiversity conservation efforts but also reveal a lack of standardized reporting frameworks, underscoring the need for a unified European approach to biodiversity disclosure to ensure more consistent and impactful contributions toward the SDGs. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to address knowledge gaps on biodiversity practices supported by digitalization and partnerships, as adopted and shared through sustainability reporting by the top 50 universities leading in land conservation in the Times Higher Education (THE) 2024 ranking.


Capacity Determinants of Climate Action in Developing Countries

April 2025

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2 Reads

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 13—Climate Action—and the Paris Agreement (PA) goal, largely depends on the successful implementation of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) set by countries party to the PA. This article examines the NDCs of 32 upper‐middle‐income (UMI) countries and identifies their capacity‐building factors under Article 11 of the PA. A grounded theory approach, followed by in vivo coding, focused coding, and theoretical coding, scrutinizes 110 determining factors related to 19 determinants and two categories theorizing the successful implementation of their NDCs. The findings suggest that the availability of climate finance and technology transfer from developed countries results from 76 internal and 34 external capacity‐building factors, determining a course of action for sustainable development in developing countries. Collaboration between developed and developing countries on technical, research, and policymaking aspects remains a leading factor for realizing NDCs. The upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP30) is potentially relevant for policymaking and action strategies for a global response to climate change.


Evaluating the Sustainability of Water and Sanitation Services: A Comparative Analysis of Methodological Approaches

April 2025

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21 Reads

Benchmarking the sustainability of water utilities (WUs) in the provision of water and sanitation services is essential for addressing global sustainability goals. This study proposes a water utility sustainability index (WUSI), which was estimated for a sample of 29 WUs in Chile. To evaluate the impact of weighting methodologies on sustainability assessments, two approaches were applied: the benefit of doubt (BoD) method and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The results indicate that the average WUSI score under the BoD method was 0.987, with 55.17% of WUs achieving the maximum score of 1.0, whereas the AHP approach yielded a lower mean score of 0.551, with the highest‐performing WU reaching 0.737. This difference arises from the fact that the weights assigned to the indicators comprising the WUSI under the BoD approach are endogenously optimized to maximize the composite index for each WU, leading to the suppression of poor‐performing indicators. In addition, the BoD method exhibited lower variance (SD = 0.035) compared to AHP (SD = 0.095), suggesting a tendency to overestimate sustainability. The ranking of WUs also varied significantly depending on the weighting methodology used. The study revealed that utility size and geographical location influence sustainability outcomes. The significant discrepancies in WUSI scores based on the weighting methodology highlight the need for regulators to adopt a hybrid approach, combining objective, data‐driven methods with expert and stakeholder input to ensure more balanced and contextually relevant sustainability assessments.


The Intersection of Digitalization, Innovation, and Information Technology: A New Era of Sustainable Development in EU

April 2025

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12 Reads

Environmental issues have been at the heart of the global and EU member states policy agenda at least for the last decade. Currently, support for innovation is one of the focal areas of environmental sustainability development, with a focus on digitalization and information technology as leading driving forces of the current sixth wave of innovation development. This paper examines whether and how environmental sustainability and the level of innovation development, use of information technologies, and digitalization, in the case of EU Member States, are related. We assume that a tight interconnection between environmental sustainability and innovation exists both in normative and real‐life current making. We conducted a literature review of the existing global normative documents from the field of environmental sustainability, and of the already conducted studies and statistical analysis of the data from the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023, conducting the Pearson correlation test and linear regression. Our results indicate a positive correlation between environmental sustainability and digitalization, as well as the use of information technology, but not between innovation and environmental sustainability. The findings provide valuable insights for the reflection on current environmental sustainability and innovation, digitalization policy agenda among EU member states as global advocates of such development as it opens the need to build a bridge between normative words on the paper and everyday real‐life attitudes toward environmental sustainability, digitalization, and innovation. More action is required in the sense of putting into action policy and research findings.


Fusion of Fintech and Green Finance Amidst Russo‐Ukrainian Conflict: A Step Toward Sustainable Development

April 2025

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15 Reads

Green technology innovations such as fintech and green finance have emerged as comprehensive drivers to deal with environmental issues and foster sustainable development even during unforeseeable events. In this regard, this study explores the dynamics of Shanghai crude oil futures, Chinese Renminbi, Shanghai SE Composite Index, Hang Seng TECH Index, geopolitical risks, and carbon markets from March 26, 2018, to July 3, 2023. It accounts for major economic disruptions, such as the COVID‐19 pandemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, illustrating how these sectors have enabled more effective monitoring and analysis of complex financial ecosystems. Findings reveal a high level of interconnectedness, particularly during the Russia‐Ukraine conflict, utilizing the Vector Autoregression (VAR) method for assessing market linkages toward sustainable development. Further analysis through wavelet coherence and DCC GARCH models underscores the effectiveness of crude oil futures as a hedging instrument with substantial resilience to market shocks. These insights imply crucial implications for green finance and fintech regulators, suggesting the need for strict monitoring of cross‐market risks and advising against the use of crude oil futures by Chinese stock investors as a hedging tool.


Nonlinear Effects of Energy Shortages on Sustainable Development and Economic Growth: Evidence From South Asian Countries

April 2025

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48 Reads

Reliable energy resources are indispensable for meeting growing human demand, and ensuring their sustainable use remains a critical global challenge in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. This study delves into the linkage of energy shortage with key development indicators, including economic growth, human development index, and sustainable development index in the South Asian region. The empirical results are estimated through panel quantile regression and method of movement quantile regression approaches. The study found a U‐shaped relationship, indicating that initial electrification access has a limited impact on development, but after surpassing a certain threshold, further improvement of electrification access greatly accelerates social, environmental, and economic development. These results suggest the non‐existence of energy shortage in the South Asian region, as most of the population has already achieved electricity access. Furthermore, trade openness increases development, while urbanization and gross capital formation present mixed results. The findings suggest a need for policy to promote sustainable energy practices through renewable adoption, energy efficiency, and equitable energy distribution rather than mere access expansion. This research offers valuable insights for policymakers to formulate energy policies that support the region's balance of growth and environmental sustainability.


The Role of Green Finance in Driving Artificial Intelligence and Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development

April 2025

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37 Reads

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1 Citation

This study contributes to the literature on sustainable development by investigating the mechanisms through which green finance fosters sustainability in emerging economies. Given the increasing importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and renewable energy in environmental transitions, we explore their roles as mediators in the relationship between green finance and sustainability. Using a dataset covering 2015–2022, we apply Baron and Kenny's (1986) mediation approach combined with advanced econometric techniques to assess green finance's direct and indirect effects on sustainable development. Our findings reveal that green finance directly enhances sustainable development while significantly promoting AI and renewable energy capacity. However, once these mediators are included, the direct effect of green finance on sustainability weakens, indicating a partial mediation effect. Moreover, the study identifies the additional mediating role of AI in linking green finance to renewable energy capacity and amplifying its overall impact. These results highlight the critical interplay between green finance, AI, and renewable energy in achieving environmental and economic sustainability. Policymakers in emerging economies should prioritize green finance initiatives, invest in AI-driven clean energy solutions, and support decentralized renewable energy projects to accelerate sustainability transitions.


Does Women Empowerment Promote Sustainable Development in Developing Countries?

April 2025

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22 Reads

On the question of whether women empowerment is a vector of sustainable development or not, the jury is still out. This study probes into the relationship between various aspects of women empowerment (political and socioeconomic) and sustainable development, taking into account the environment, social, and economic dimensions. The paper uses the system Generalized Method of Moments to analyze data from 44 developing African economies (1996–2022). Results show that women's socioeconomic empowerment (WSE) enhances economic and social development, while women's political empowerment (WPE) promotes economic development. However, pollution emissions are associated with both WSE and WPE, thereby revealing that women empowerment is detrimental to environmental conservation in Africa. The results further reveal that WPE impedes social development across African countries. When the global panel is disaggregated into subregional groups, the economic development‐enhancing role of women empowerment remains evident in both sub‐regions. Similarly, though nonsignificant, the environment‐degrading effect of women empowerment is consistent across sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) and North African countries. However, the effects of women empowerment on social development are divergent across sub‐regions. While WSE and WPE hinder social development in SSA, women empowerment fosters social development in Northern African countries. These findings are statistically robust to alternative contemporary estimation techniques and suggest that governmental programs aimed at empowering women do not seem to pay substantial attention to environmental challenges. A similar scenario seems evident for WPE as regards social development actions. It is therefore necessary for policymakers to design policies aimed at educating women on socially and environmentally sustainable practices.


Paving the Path to Reduce Energy Poverty: Do International Financial Support for Clean Energy and Effective Governance Really Matter?

April 2025

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14 Reads

Energy poverty remains a pressing challenge in South Asia, affecting economic development and social wellbeing. Addressing this issue requires a combination of financial support and effective governance. This study analyzes the role of international financial support for clean energy in alleviating energy poverty in South Asia. In addition, it examines how government effectiveness moderates this relationship. This study collected data on five South Asian economies from 1990 to 2021. We employed two different proxies for energy poverty, namely access to electricity and clean fuel technology, to obtain more robust outcomes. A Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) regression was used. The results indicate that international financial assistance for clean energy is essential for improving access to electricity and clean fuel technologies and combating energy poverty. In addition, government effectiveness has a positive, though rather weak, influence, enhancing the effect of international financial support on both proxies. This implies that more effective governance increases the capability to use external financial assistance to obtain tangible results as a key element in addressing energy poverty in South Asia. This study offers a novel perspective to address energy poverty by highlighting the combined effects of international financial support and government effectiveness. This highlights the importance of effective governance in maximizing the outcomes of financial assistance and provides valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders focused on sustainable energy access in South Asia.


Natural Resources Consumption, Renewable Energy Investments and Digital Infrastructure: Analyzing Climate Change in Top‐10 Resource Consuming Economies

April 2025

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40 Reads

The continuous industrial developments mean global economies are under heightened pressure to enact pro-environmental policies and solve climate change and global warming. In order to examine the sustainable development transition, the current study articulates natural resources, digital infrastructure, renewable energy investments, institutional governance, and economic growth to study climate change in top-10 resource-consuming economies. The empirical analysis analyzes the empirical dataset from 1996 to 2022 to report that renewable energy investments, digital infrastructure, and institutional governance lower climate change challenges. In contrast, dependency on natural resources and economic growth endanger ecological sustainability. Our robust theoretical and econometric analysis helps us suggest sustainable development policy frameworks to help achieve sustainable development goals.


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9.9 (2023)

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7%

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17.3 (2023)

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2 days

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