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Abstract

Current approaches for measuring and assessing contributions of companies and their products to sustainability largely focus on reducing negative impacts. However, becoming “less bad” still means having adverse impacts on the environment. Various authors have therefore called for investigating how positive contributions can be made to further sustainable development. This systematic literature review explores how positive contributions to sustainability have been discussed in the environmental management literature dealing with sustainability performance measurement and assessment. Our review of 328 publications reveals an understanding of positive contributions to sustainability that is a mostly implicit or vague use. Inductive analysis, however, reveals three distinct understandings – an operationalization, a stakeholder and a transformation perspective – each of which is embedded in a different theoretical frame, namely decision, stakeholder and transition theory. These perspectives have so far been discussed separately in the literature. By drawing on theoretical foundations of performance measurement, we propose an integrated understanding of positive contributions to sustainability: A positive sustainability contribution has the goal of bringing about a sustainability transformation, considers the environmental, economic and social context through stakeholder participation, and is operationalized to facilitate decision-making and the implementation of effective sustainability measures. A clear definition is of key importance for both research and practice to both reduce negative and increase positive contributions to sustainable development.

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... Environmental management and restoration are necessary for the sustainable coexistence of nature and humans. Water environments constitute a principal part of aquatic ecosystems and socioenvironmental systems [1][2]. Therefore, they are important research targets in civil and environmental engineering, and related fields [3][4][5]. ...
... x − can be approximated as 1 ax for such 1 0 x  . Therefore, the asymptotic behavior of the numerical solutions can be used to evaluate the performance of the finite difference method. ...
... Figure 1 near the origin 1 0 x = . Figure 1 indicates that the numerical and exact solutions agree well near the origin, whereas they deviate for larger 1 x values, as expected, owing to the emergence of the nonlinear drift in the numerical solutions. ...
Preprint
Environmental management and restoration should be designed such that the risk and uncertainty owing to nonlinear stochastic systems can be successfully addressed. We apply the robustified dynamic Orlicz risk to the modeling and analysis of environmental management and restoration to consider both the risk and uncertainty within a unified theory. We focus on the control of a jump-driven hybrid stochastic system that represents macrophyte dynamics. The dynamic programming equation based on the Orlicz risk is first obtained heuristically, from which the associated Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation is derived. In the proposed Orlicz risk, the risk aversion of the decision-maker is represented by a power coefficient that resembles a certainty equivalence, whereas the uncertainty aversion is represented by the Kullback-Leibler divergence, in which the risk and uncertainty are handled consistently and separately. The HJB equation includes a new state-dependent discount factor that arises from the uncertainty aversion, which leads to a unique, nonlinear, and nonlocal term. The link between the proposed and classical stochastic control problems is discussed with a focus on control-dependent discount rates. We propose a finite difference method for computing the HJB equation. Finally, the proposed model is applied to an optimal harvesting problem for macrophytes in a brackish lake that contains both growing and drifting populations.
... This lack of interest is due to various reasons, including the inability of the manufacturer to position its products among similar products to find out whether it is comparatively environmentally friendly [49,89]. This is important, because thinking about the environmental impact of manufacturers as reducing negative impact has been formatted over the years [90]. Additionally, as noted by Dijkstra-Silva et al., "being "less bad" still means harming the environment" [90]. ...
... This is important, because thinking about the environmental impact of manufacturers as reducing negative impact has been formatted over the years [90]. Additionally, as noted by Dijkstra-Silva et al., "being "less bad" still means harming the environment" [90]. For this reason, various authors point to the necessity and importance of recognizing the positive impact of manufacturers on the environment [90]. ...
... Additionally, as noted by Dijkstra-Silva et al., "being "less bad" still means harming the environment" [90]. For this reason, various authors point to the necessity and importance of recognizing the positive impact of manufacturers on the environment [90]. All this indicates the need to develop new sustainable business models [14]. ...
Article
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This article presents the results of analyzing environmental impact indicators of thirteen ceramic tile adhesives (CTAs). The analyzed data came from ten third-party-verified Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) created in 2016-2022. The paper examines seven environmental impact indicators for modules A1-A3 (cradle-to-gate). Significant differences were observed between the values of environmental indicators, which, in the case of Global Warming Potential (GWP), differed by almost 270% in the most extreme case. For the depletion of abiotic resources (elements) (ADP e), the values of products differed by nearly fourteen thousand times. Results are discussed from the perspective of the CTAs' manufacturer assessing the product. The analysis focused on issues such as the historical dimension of data, which is the basis for Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), the need for their constant updating, and the subject of uncertainty-usually wholly omitted in the considerations on the environmental impact of construction products. The results of the analysis were also evaluated in terms of the planned introduction of the new 3+ assessment system in connection with the future amendment of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR). The results of the CTAs' analysis of environmental indicators showed that, despite the EPDs functioning for a decade, the obligatory assessment of construction products in terms of sustainability using the 3+ system did not create the conditions for its proper occurrence. This analysis showed that, without obtaining reliable data on the environmental impact of CTAs, correct AVCP is not possible, and the consumer is not able to make proper choices.
... For entrepreneurship to foster sustainable development, it is essential to understand the nature and scale of the effects created by sustainability-minded entrepreneurial young ventures (Horne and Fichter, 2022). The sustainability impact, both for profit-oriented or non-profit organizations, can be understood as the effects of entrepreneurial activity on key sustainability challenges such as those defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) or the planetary boundaries (United Nations, 2015;Rockstrom et al., 2009), which can eventually lead to economic, social and ecological value preservation and creation for stakeholders (Freudenreich et al., 2020;Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022). ...
... Change, on the level of systems, unfolds in the medium or long-term (Bagnoli and Megali, 2011). Hence, in its positive version, 'sustainability impact' refers to longer-term changes in social, technical, or natural systems that bring us closer to sustainable development (Dembek et al., 2022;Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022;Schaltegger et al., 2022b). ...
... Impacts are furthermore specific ends rather than general effects. Within a broad interpretation of sustainability, impacts include both the reduction of negative externalities (e.g., carbon emission reduction, i.e. the footprinting paradigm), as well as the creation of positive externalities (e.g., carbon sequestration through nature-based solutions, i.e. the handprinting paradigm) (Schillebeeckx and Merrill, 2022;Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022). To make the distinctions clear, we therefore propose to either use these more nuanced terms (outputs, outcomes, impact), or to simply refer to 'sustainability effects' if we refer to sustainability-related effects in general without distinguishing the scope, scale, and temporality of the effects of sustainability-oriented corporate and entrepreneurial activities. ...
Article
Entrepreneurs and start-ups are key actors in implementing environmental innovation and accelerating sustainability transitions. Thus, analyzing as well as predicting the impact of entrepreneurial ventures is central to management and entrepreneurship research. The sustainability performance, value and impact of incumbent firms and their products and services has been a key topic in business-related sustainability research for many years, but the assessment of sustainability effects of new ventures and start-ups is a neglected area of research. This article therefore provides an overview with key definitions, a new conceptual framework, and notions that guide and inspire a future research agenda. In this way, it also serves as an introductory article for the special issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production on ‘Assessing and forecasting the sustainability impacts of new ventures: Theories, methods and empirical evidence’.
... Among those goals, this study aims to tackle goal number 7 which is affordable and clean energy, 12 for responsible consumption and production and 13 for climate action. However, it will be advisable to first understand what sustainability is, a peer review summarized sustainability into three categories [4]. Those are operational sustainability, which explains that sustainability happens when more positive impact occurs than negative impact; the second one is stakeholder sustainability, which is a social sustainability affected by the decisions of stakeholder, and lastly, transformation sustainability, which promotes the idea of changing the human mindset to make improvements [4]. ...
... However, it will be advisable to first understand what sustainability is, a peer review summarized sustainability into three categories [4]. Those are operational sustainability, which explains that sustainability happens when more positive impact occurs than negative impact; the second one is stakeholder sustainability, which is a social sustainability affected by the decisions of stakeholder, and lastly, transformation sustainability, which promotes the idea of changing the human mindset to make improvements [4]. From this point of view, assessing sustainability is a large topic, and trying to tackle all the stated contributions will be impossible. ...
Article
Fuel in transportation is necessary and gas release from transportation activity raises concern of pollution. Sustainable fuels sources are from biomass can convert to the alternative to the bioenergy fuel. It is actively investigated with concern in the environmental effects if using conventional fuels from reservoir of fossil fuels. Hence, to counter these consequences, Sustainable Fuels (SF) is investigated as it is considered a renewable source of fuel. Thus, this study aims to establish an experiment to determine the suitability of biomass fuel by using soybean and waste cooking oil feedstocks. An experiment is set up to produce biomass fuel by using feedstock from different biomass particularly from soybean oil, a first-generation edible feedstock and waste cooking oil, a second-generation nonedible feedstock. The method chosen to produce biomass fuel is transesterification. The experiment will test the effects of a catalyst, namely solid Potassium Hydroxide, KOH, with three levels of concentration 0.75%, 1%, and 1.5% w/w KOH. Once the biomass fuel is produced it will undergo a series of tests to study the effect of parameters such as density, kinematic viscosity, caloric value, acid value and Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME). The results show that using the feedstock 0.75 w/w% of KOH, the yield of biomass fuel is the most for both feedstocks. It is noted that soybean oil yields slightly greater feedstock than waste cooking oil. The density for both feedstock is very similar at 0.87-0.88 g/cm3. The acid value of biomass fuel produced from waste cooking oil is much higher than soybean oil at 0.28 but still under the acceptance range of 0.5. The concentration of catalyst used is a major factor in the yield of biomass fuel. It is also noted that the first-generation edible feedstock of soybean oil produces greater quality of biomass fuel. Nevertheless, first-generation feedstock still poses the food competition threat in comparison to second-generation feedstock. Therefore, establishment of the second-generation feedstock from waste cooking oil produces biomass fuel that is close to the quality of soybean oil, it is a more preferred feedstock compared to soybean oil.
... Qualitative analysis of sustainability Impact of the pandemic situation on progress towards the SDGs [9] Identification of sustainable development targets with a focus on justifying their relevance [14] The need to link social, environmental, and economic indicators to the public vision of sustainable development and the UN SDGs [3,15] The need for sustainable transformation of markets and society [16] The need to identify positive contributions to sustainable development that facilitate stakeholder decision making [17] Linking digital transformation and sustainability [18] Understanding the political and governance dimensions of sustainability [19] Examining resilience and vulnerability through the lenses of evolutionary dynamics and exposure to shocks [4] Using the concept of hysteresis to examine the possible responses of the economic system to crisis shocks [5] Impact of global shocks on regional resilience [6] A theoretical framework for incorporating sustainability indicators into the decision-making process is proposed [26] Developing urban resilience indicators: adaptive capacity, absorptive capacity, and transformative capacity [31] ...
... Sustainable transformation of markets and society is necessary to assess sustainable development [16]. Current measurements and approaches to sustainability assessment focus on reducing negative environmental impacts [17]: while measuring sustainability it is necessary to identify positive contributions to sustainable development that facilitate stakeholder decision making. The relationship between digital transformation and sustainability is addressed by [18]. ...
Article
Full-text available
The agenda for sustainable development actualizes sustainability analysis of countries’ social, ecological, and economic conditions, as well as the necessity of designing practical recommendations to realize the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Sustainability analysis is a part of decision making and policy development in a broad environmental, economic, and social context. That is why this analysis goes beyond simple technical assessment. In order to make sustainability a target variable in development strategies, it is necessary to use special methods combining mathematical tools and managerial content. The paper systematizes modern mathematical methods for assessing economic sustainability and proposes a methodology for the integrated assessment of the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of countries, which were tested on data from 24 EU countries over 12 periods. The case study results derived from spatial and temporal samples are consistent with the currently observed processes in the EU. The content basis is the UN concept of sustainable development, the instrumental basis is multivariate comparisons, the Mahalanobis distances method, the correlation and regression analysis, analysis of variance, time series analysis, and trends analysis. Composite indices of social, economic, and environmental sustainability of the EU countries, each of them including five indicators, were developed in this study; the levels of social, economic, and environmental sustainability of EU countries were determined, as well as individual instability indicators. Mahalanobis distances and relative and absolute sustainability indicators were calculated and determined. Cluster analysis of the EU countries by levels of social, economic, and environmental instability and Mahalanobis distances, the diagnosis of the current situation and dominant trends were carried out for testing the hypothesis that there are positive relations between the instability of development and Mahalanobis distances. Hypotheses about the relationship between instability and the level of country development, reflected in the values of socio-economic and environmental indicators, and whether countries with good values of social, environmental, and economic indicators are the most sustainable, were investigated.
... Qualitative analysis of sustainability Impact of the pandemic situation on progress towards the SDGs [9] Identification of sustainable development targets with a focus on justifying their relevance [14] The need to link social, environmental, and economic indicators to the public vision of sustainable development and the UN SDGs [3,15] The need for sustainable transformation of markets and society [16] The need to identify positive contributions to sustainable development that facilitate stakeholder decision making [17] Linking digital transformation and sustainability [18] Understanding the political and governance dimensions of sustainability [19] Examining resilience and vulnerability through the lenses of evolutionary dynamics and exposure to shocks [4] Using the concept of hysteresis to examine the possible responses of the economic system to crisis shocks [5] Impact of global shocks on regional resilience [6] A theoretical framework for incorporating sustainability indicators into the decision-making process is proposed [26] Developing urban resilience indicators: adaptive capacity, absorptive capacity, and transformative capacity [31] ...
... Sustainable transformation of markets and society is necessary to assess sustainable development [16]. Current measurements and approaches to sustainability assessment focus on reducing negative environmental impacts [17]: while measuring sustainability it is necessary to identify positive contributions to sustainable development that facilitate stakeholder decision making. The relationship between digital transformation and sustainability is addressed by [18]. ...
Article
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Managing the level of inequality is an indispensable tool for ensuring sustainable devel-opment and maintaining political stability. The paper systematizes the reasons for the relevance of the problems of economic inequality and its impact on economic development. The results of the analysis of regional features of economic inequality in the Russian Federation are presented. The relationship be-tween the parameters of socio-economic development of 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the period from 2012 to 2022 with indicators of economic inequality is studied. Temporal trends in the income concentration coefficient (Gini index) for the country as a whole and for each of the subjects are identified, their features are determined. Using the k-means method, a cluster analysis of 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation is carried out in terms of socio-economic development and economic inequality. A correlation analysis of the Gini index with the size of GRP per capita and the average value of the average monthly nominal accrued wage is carried out for each cluster, using the values of the indi-cators averaged over an 11-year interval. Scatter plots are constructed and analyzed. Conclusions about the features of economic inequality for each cluster are drawn, and directions for the instrumentalization of socio-economic policy to overcome economic inequality in the regions of the Russian Federation are determined.
... Sustainability assessment has gained prominence in academic research and policymaking, underscored by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015 (Costa et al., 2019;Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022). This agenda, endorsed by all United Nations Member States, introduced the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a collection of 17 interconnected targets, aiming for a more sustainable future for all by 2030 (UN, 2020). ...
... Consistent with this findings, scholars including Fauzi et al. (2019), Costa et al. (2019), Alejandrino et al. (2021), have explored challenges and gaps in integrating the three sustainability pillars within LCSA. They suggest a need for more case studies to gain a deeper understanding of methodological trade-offs and highlight the lack of a harmonized methodology as a significant impediment (Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022). Moreover, Wulf et al. (2019) stress the need for comprehensive discussions on sustainability concepts and a multi-criteria decision analysis. ...
Article
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Previous literature reviews on life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) have delved into methodology, case studies, reviews, and discussions on indicators and integration. However, there has been a limited focus on redefining the economic dimension of the LCSA framework and addressing challenges at lower technological readiness levels (TRL) for emerging technologies. This study fills this gap by concentrating on the economic dimension of LCSA and its application to emerging technologies. We introduce innovative suggestions for expanding the traditional Life Cycle Costing (LCC) method to incorporate costs concerning various stakeholders and introduce tangible indicators suitable for diverse stakeholder groups. Our research also categorizes emerging technologies based on TRL within LCSA, highlighting the significant impacts and data sources. Two primary areas of recommendations emerged: 1) For emerging technologies, we emphasize using diverse data sources, the importance of uncertainty and sensitivity analyses, and the need for accurate characterization factors. 2) On the economic front, we advocate for an expanded LCC approach, the potential of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA), and the exploration of ties between micro and macroeconomic dimensions.
... This shift has propelled businesses into a quest for mutually beneficial solutions, aiming to strike a harmonious equilibrium between financial prosperity and the ecological impact of their endeavors (Dijkstra-Silva et al. 2022). Conversely, escalating shareholder demands have driven businesses to embrace more eco-conscious practices, leading to an augmentation in their environmental performance (Horne & Fichter 2022). ...
Article
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While a considerable body of research addresses firms’ endeavors toward environmental sustainability, the prominence of green computing has been somewhat eclipsed by impediments hindering its swift integration and development. To address this gap, this study conducted a comprehensive analysis, identifying twelve distinct barriers categorized into adoption costs, technological challenges, and internal obstacles. Through consultation with fifteen field experts, the study employed Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and Matrice d’Impacts Croises Multipication Applique´ an Classment (MICMAC) methodologies to scrutinize the influences among these barriers. The findings illuminated that firm size and legal constraints emerge as pivotal and autonomous factors exerting substantial influence on the adoption. Additionally, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method was deployed to ascertain the relative importance of these barriers and delineate their causal relationships. Notably, the DEMATEL results underscored that, according to experts, adoption cost barriers hold greater significance compared to other dimensions. Transactional risk, technological complexity, and switching cost were identified as pivotal barriers within their respective dimensions. The decision-making framework formulated in this study offers valuable insights for managers and practitioners, providing a nuanced understanding of the interplay between identified barriers and their implications for implementing green computing initiatives.
... The pressure from stakeholders, market changes, corporate strategies, and the pursuit of environmental innovation, in addition to regulatory pressure, have increasingly driven companies to measure and evaluate their social and environmental impacts. Most of these approaches focus on mitigating negative environmental and social impacts, such as reducing material and energy use or preventing pollution and waste (DIJKSTRA-SILVA et al., 2022). ...
Article
The quality of MDP panels produced with Pinus taeda wood particles mixed with yerba mate harvest residues was evaluated. Monolayer panels were produced with the addition of 0. 20. 40. 60. 80 and 100% proportion of yerba mate waste, with a nominal specific gravity of 0.65 g.cm-³, using 12% urea-formaldehyde resin, 0.5% paraffin and 2% ammonium sulfate catalyst. The panels were pressed for 10 minutes at a temperature of 140°C and pressure of 40 kgf/cm². The physical properties of apparent density, moisture content, water absorption and thickness swelling (2 and 24 hours) were evaluated, as well as the mechanical properties of static bending (MOR and MOE), internal bonding, screw withdrawal on the face and Janka hardness. There was a trend towards an increase in internal bonding with an increase in the proportion of yerba mate residue in the panels, but the opposite occurred for the other mechanical properties studied. Some physical properties such as water absorption and thickness swelling resulted in better performance when yerba mate particles were added. In view of this, it can be concluded that it is possible to produce panels with the addition of yerba mate up to 40% in the composition with yerba mate particles, without affecting the quality of the properties.
... Thus, market fixes become diluted when they fail to address the underlying fundamental beliefs, attitudes, mindsets, and resultant behaviors (Hallet & Hobbs, 2020). Doing 'less bad' is not enough to achieve sustainability transitions (Dijkstra-Silva, Schaltegger, & Beske-Janssen, 2022). ...
Article
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The study results in a process model of market shaping explicitly aimed at inducing environmental impact.
... Although most methods are versatile and can be applied depending on the study's objective, some have only been used to assess one or more dimensions of sustainability. The results show that there are enough methods available to evaluate all dimensions of the triple bottom line and that the lack of evaluation of social impact can be attributed to the difficulty of companies in obtaining data and the development of social indicators (Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022;Neves et al., 2020). It is important to mention that the social impact should not be left aside, considering that, in most cases, this impact is intrinsic to the environmental impact. ...
Article
The literature on Industrial Symbiosis (IS) is rich in frameworks, methods, and tools for assessing sustainable impacts as a strategy for implementing a circular economy. However, a structured overview of integrating sustainability assessment methodologies with the IS life cycle to pursue sustainable development is lacking. This paper aims to build a knowledge base on sustainability assessment methodologies along the IS life cycle through a conceptual framework as a tool to achieve sustainable development. For this purpose, a systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines, allowing the selection of 105 cases, which were subjected to descriptive and content analysis. From this analysis, we characterized the IS cases considering the levels of the circular economy, the R-imperatives, the origin and governance configuration of the IS, and the sustainable assessment methods within the IS life cycle stages. The analysis revealed the use of 54 distinct methodologies to assess the three dimensions of sustainability, which were classified in 12 clusters and integrated in a conceptual framework considering the IS life cycle phases (identification, assessment, implementation, and monitoring). The framework enables researchers, policymakers, and industry practitioners to identify sustainable assessment methodologies, the specific sustainability dimensions being assessed, and the corresponding stage of the IS life cycle. This approach is designed to address key internal and external factors of symbiotic networks, enabling the proposal of effective policies, the provision of financial incentives, and the facilitation of knowledge sharing. Ultimately, this will foster real synergies within the industrial ecosystem, resulting in tangible sustainability benefits for businesses, the environment, and society. Future research is needed on sustainability assessment methodologies to support the implementation and monitoring phases to facilitate the implementation of successful IS cases.
... Thus, the professor defines net assets as the value of the property of the business entity, which corresponds to the equity calculated as the difference between the value of the property and the loan capital [22]. On the other hand, other researchers consider net assets as the excess of the value of assets over the company's liabilities [23,24]. ...
Article
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The subject of this study is sustainable development accounting, particularly its role in shaping environmental and social indicators of enterprises. The paper pays special attention to the issue of insufficient integration of environmental and social aspects into conventional financial accounting. It identifies the need to devise methodologies that include social and ecological indicators in financial reporting, to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of enterprise activities on society and the environment. The results demonstrate that the implementation of sustainable development accounting allows for a comprehensive assessment of the financial, social, and environmental impact of the enterprise. Analysis of sources proves that enterprises that use this approach have better opportunities for risk forecasting and resource management, which increases their competitiveness and responsibility to society. The interpretation of the results emphasizes that the success of sustainable development accounting is conditioned by the ability to integrate comprehensive data about the impact of enterprise activities on the environment and society into the general management system. Such integration allows enterprises not only to meet regulatory requirements but also to enhance their overall value and image. The features and distinctive characteristics of the results are that they enable companies to conduct more transparent and responsible business. The implementation of sustainable development accounting systems gives enterprises the ability not only to reduce the negative impact on the environment but also to effectively engage resources to address social issues. The domain of practical application of the results extends to corporate governance, socially responsible business, investment analysis, and environmental assessment. It includes internal and external regulation, stakeholder requirements, and strategic planning at enterprises
... According to him, at the origin, "it was supposed to provoke deeper thinking about capitalism and its future, but many early adopters understood the concept as a balancing act, adopting a trade-off mentality". Dijkstra-Silva et al. (2022) examined the understanding of sustainability contributions in environmental management on the measurement and evaluation of sustainability performance, highlighting the relevance of including sustainability in management and, more particularly, in management accounting. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC), developed by Kaplan and Norton (1992, 1996, attracted attention due to its multi-dimensional and integrated performance model. ...
... Here, the R-strategies 'reduce', 'reuse' and 'recycle' are relatively less ambitious ways to lower a firm's negative footprint on the environment. On the more ambitious end of the spectrum, the terms 'restore', 'regenerate' and 'rewild' are used to help shift the management focus towards creating a net-positive handprint 24 , that is, the sum of positive actions that a firm takes to improve life on the planet. ...
Article
Notions of regeneration have entered discourses in several fields that are relevant for sustainability, including, among others, ecology, agriculture, economics, management, sociology, psychology and chemistry. A review of existing work shows that there are interesting parallels between these fields. By carefully defining key concepts, such as regenerative dynamics, regenerative practices and regenerative momentum, this Review Article offers a generalized framework for understanding regenerative systems. This framework, in turn, promises to spark new insights for sustainability science and practice because it can link hitherto disconnected academic fields and foster new, integrative developments across multiple areas of sustainability practice.
... Organizational change is also necessary for the implementation of legislation such as the NFRD (Aluchna et al., 2023). Companies start thinking about what they are doing and what should be done when they must disclose the strategies and management approach (Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022). Processes must be 'closely monitored and proactively managed' to increase their positive effects (Blanco et al., 2020). ...
Article
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive 2022/2464 (CSRD) introduces the concept of double materiality in the preparation of sustainability reports in the European Union (EU) starting in 2024. Our research aim is to provide ex-ante empirical evidence on how large Romanian enterprises perform materiality assessment and disclose impacts, risks, and opportunities. Data are collected from 20 listed Romanian companies, using an inductive approach. Most companies report information on their materiality assessment process; direct, inside out, and positive impacts (and less financial materiality), environmental risks and opportunities, and social impacts. Companies engage mainly with stakeholders in the social realm and less with financial capital providers. The stakeholder engagement process is not continuous, relying predominantly on isolated events. Internal processes are implemented and overseen by dedicated governance structures. Further clarifications and stricter requirements on the implementation of the double materiality concept are needed for the effective application of the CSRD.
... For economic sustainability measurements, researchers use land values in the area, employment opportunities, the sizes of houses, and house ownership data [7]. Similarly, to measure social sustainability, several studies have used the level of the sense of belonging, the level of maintenance of neighborhood facilities, provisions of neighborhood services, health care facilities, the presence of parks in a se lement, the availability of sports facilities, and solid waste management in the area [8,9]. However, there is still a debate in measuring sustainability using fixed indicators due to the complicated morphology and heterogeneous nature of different environmental and sustainability indicators. ...
Article
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It is reported that the rapid rate of urbanization has negative impacts on the environment, society, and economic conditions in the capital of Pakistan, which need to be addressed for sustainability. This study attempts to quantify the level of urban sustainability by using a Multiple Linear Regression Analysis in a social context. Primary data were collected through a random sampling survey, while secondary data were collected from the Capital Development Authority, public documents, and past studies or case reports. These data were associated with land values, property rent, the availability of commercial space, social security, the sense of belonging, and the frequency of urban flooding. The major sources of secondary data were the revised master plan of the city (2020–2040), urban gazette data, land value registers, property dealers’ records of real estate, and government documents. The results of the analyses show that there is a strong correlation between the selected variables and the urban sustainability of the area. These results were expressed through the coefficient of regression and coefficient of correlation through regression statistics, including R = 0.801 for economic sustainability, R = 0.822 for urban sustainability, and R = 0.905 for social sustainability. The results reveal that the level of urban sustainability is at risk due to overpopulation and the degradation of the ecosystem. It is concluded that there is a need for the implementation of a revised master plan in the area for the sustainable development of the city.
... Corporations are increasingly led to monitor, measure, and report their impacts on the environment due to external pressures: institutional and stakeholders pressure, market needs, and increasing attention toward sustainability (Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022). ...
Article
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This study advances the understanding about the waste management practices adopted by the electricity sector for meeting the energy transition. Specifically, through the institutional, stakeholder, and legitimacy theory lens, it investigates the decarbonization practices in 11 major electricity producers in Europe trying to understand their sincere concern for enhanced performance and transparency. This study analyzes the content of non-financial disclosures shown by 90 reports, that is 64 sustainability reporting and 26 integrated reporting published between 2015 and 2022. Hence, this study seeks to clarify the linkages between waste management for emissions reduction, GHG accounting and sustainability reports through which the corporations seek legitimacy from stakeholders. The results highlight the commitment of electricity corporations for energy transition using green technologies and renewable energy sources to decarbonize the waste practices. However, they underline the absence of quantitative evidence in the SR for the evaluation of initiatives impact and the reduction of GHG emissions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that conceptualizes the linkages between waste decarbonization for energy transition and the accounting systems i.e. GHG accounting and reporting in the electricity sector towards a cleaner production.
... Another limitation of LCAs is their frequent focus on 'capturing and repairing negative dysfunctions and pathologies instead of fostering positive features that make a human life sustainable and worth living' (Kühnen and Hahn, 2019, p. 615, see also Dijkstra-Silva et al., 2022). This aligns with Ergene et al.'s (2021) illustration that management research with a focus on 'merely mitigating harm and doing less bad' (p. ...
Article
Impact investing (II) aims to achieve intentional social impact in addition to financial return. Our systematic literature review of 104 articles finds that the growing academic literature on II is scattered across a variety of disciplines and topics, with inconsistencies in terminology and concepts and a paucity of theoretical explanations and frameworks. To provide an overview of common research areas and findings, we integrate the articles on II in nine emerging topics and shed light on inconsistencies in the literature. The analysis reveals one major shortcoming in II research: Despite the fact that II aims to create a measurable societal impact, this impact of II, its raison d'être, is not scrutinized in the literature. We argue that investigating the impact of II requires a holistic lens, for which we propose systems theory. We suggest prospective future research avenues which combine socioeconomic research approaches (esp. longitudinal qualitative studies and experimental methods) with socio-technical methods (esp. life cycle analysis) to enable a holistic systems perspective of II.
... could make toward addressing environmental problems(Dijkstra et al., 2022). Sustainability offers both a set of ecological, social, and economic restrictions and opportunities for managers and entrepreneurs. ...
... could make toward addressing environmental problems(Dijkstra et al., 2022). Sustainability offers both a set of ecological, social, and economic restrictions and opportunities for managers and entrepreneurs. ...
Article
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One of the most investigated research topics in the corporate sustainability literature is "the" business case. Long lionized for linking the profit motive to corporate environmental initiatives, the business case for sustainability is now vehemently criticized. These critics generally argue for a return to the state and stronger regulatory frameworks. Others counter that because the private sector's capabilities are uniquely suited to realizing effective sustainability innovations and outcomes, we must not abandon but further develop our business case understanding. In this view, firms' voluntary efforts are key for innovative solutions to sustainability problems. This article overviews and unites these seemingly disparate positions. We move the field forward by placing in context criticisms and also opportunities for more meaningful positive impacts from corporate sustainability. Specifically, we argue that an effective business case orientation requires shifting to a broader "all stakeholders win" approach. This entails impact orientation, collaborative approaches, and economic restraint. K E Y W O R D S business case(s)
... While different approaches exist to assess supplier sustainability performance (e.g., Beske-Janssen et al., 2015;Büyüközkan & Karabulut, 2018;Moldavska & Welo, 2015), only a few cover social and environmental issues in equal depth (e.g., Moldavska & Welo, 2015). The choice of which approaches are most apt for improving sustainability performance (Dijkstra- Silva et al., 2022) of the specific suppliers of a focal company can be based on the assessment results (Beske-Janssen et al., 2015). ...
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Sustainability performance of suppliers has become increasingly important for both corporate practice and research. While the importance of relationships between the focal company and its suppliers has been acknowledged for improving sustainability performance of suppliers, little is known about the role of relation specific factors in practice. This research fills this gap by empirically analyzing the relevance of relationspecific factors for the sustainability performance of suppliers based on a unique data set of 736 first‐tier suppliers of a German original equipment manufacturer in the automotive industry. The analysis reveals that the sustainability performance of suppliers relates positively to transaction volume and relationship length as specific forms of relation specific characteristics as well as strategic partnership as a proxy of incentivized, in‐depth cooperation and knowledge exchange. Each of the investigated relation‐specific characteristics show a link with either environmental or with social performance. Conclusions are drawn for research and management.
... Starbucks is experimenting with blockchain to track, trace and authenticate the ethical production of its coffee and to enhance customer knowledge about coffee-sourcing [96]. In order to achieve sustainable development, stakeholders must be involved, the environmental, economic, and social contexts must be considered, and effective sustainability measures must be supported by effective decision-making [97]. ...
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Purpose International trade and its effects on the environment are increasingly discussed both in academia and by policymakers. To counter negative effects of international trade on the environment, so called environmental provisions have been integrated in trade agreements aimed at businesses and economies. However, as both the intent and effectiveness of these provisions are controversial, this paper aims to provide an overview of the current state of research and identified key factors influencing their effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct a systematic literature review of 44 papers on the effects of environmental provisions in international trade agreements on the environmental performance of businesses, as well as economies from 1992 to mid-2024. Findings The integration of environmental provisions into trade agreements generally has positive effects on the environment while their effectiveness is influenced by their design and several boundary conditions. Alongside the importance of effective enforcement mechanisms, reputation concerns of businesses and lobbyism are discussed as intermediary factors in the design and impact of environmental provisions. Practical implications The insights can benefit policymakers to optimize future environmental provisions and advance the effectiveness of policies aimed at balancing the effects of trade liberalization with environmental protection. Social implications Social sustainability is increasingly relevant for creating more sustainable trade policy while societal mechanisms seem to be an adequate tool to ensure effective enforcement of ecological provisions. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review is the first of its kind to provide a systematic overview of the literature on the effectiveness of environmental provisions that combines the micro-level of businesses and macro-level of economies, although the importance for trade in general and environmental protection, in particular, has been recognized in the academic literature.
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This paper identifies the extent to which circular economy (CE) practices are relevant for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The results of a literature review and a matching exercise to determine the relationship between CE practices and SDG targets show that CE practices, potentially, can contribute directly to achieving a significant number of SDG targets. The strongest relationships exist between CE practices and the targets of SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The paper also explores synergies that can be created through CE practices among several of the SDG targets. Furthermore, it identifies several potential trade-offs between targets for decent work, safe working environments, human health and current CE practices relating to recycling of municipal waste, e-waste and wastewater, and provides suggestions how these can be overcome. The paper concludes that CE practices can be applied as a “toolbox” and specific implementation approaches for achieving a sizeable number of SDG targets. Further empirical research is necessary to determine which specific types of partnerships and means of implementation are required to apply CE practices in the SDG context.
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In the light of increasing human pressures on the Earth system, the issue of sharing in the face of scarcity is more pressing than ever. The planetary boundary framework identifies and quantifies nine environmental boundaries and corresponding human pressures. However, when aiming to make the concept operational for decision support it is unclear how this safe operating space (SOS) within each of the planetary boundaries should be shared. This study proposes a two‐step approach, where the operating space is first downscaled to the individual level using ethical allocation principles and next scaled up to a higher organizational level using different upscaling methods. For the downscaling, three allocation principles are demonstrated: egalitarian (equal per capita); grandfathering (proportional to current share of the total impacts); and ability to pay (proportional to economic activity). For upscaling from the individual level final consumption expenditure is used as a proxy for the priority that the individual gives to the product or sector. In an alternative upscaling approach, an additional upscaling factor is based on the eco‐efficiency (ratio between turnover and environmental impact) of the product or sector. A demonstration of the method's application is given by applying the framework to two of the planetary boundaries, climate change and biogeochemical flows, with the Danish, Indian and global dairy sectors as cases. It is demonstrated how the choices of allocation and upscaling approaches influence the results differently in the three cases. The developed framework is shown to support an informed and transparent selection of allocation principles and upscaling methods and it provides a step toward standardization of distributing the SOS in absolute environmental sustainability assessments.
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The planetary boundaries (PBs) represent a well-known concept, which helps identify whether production and consumption systems are environmentally sustainable in absolute terms, namely compared to the Earth's ecological limits and carrying capacity. In this study, the impacts of production and consumption of the European Union in 2010 were assessed by means of life cycle assessment (LCA)-based indicators and compared with the PBs. Five different perspectives were adopted for assessing the impacts: a production perspective (EU Domestic Footprint) and four distinct consumption perspectives, resulting from alternative modelling approaches including both top-down (input-output LCA) and bottom-up (process-based LCA). Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) results were assessed against LCIA-based PBs, which adapted the PBs framework to the LCIA indicators and metrics of the Environmental Footprint method (EF). Global environmental impacts transgressed several LCIA-based PBs. When assessing the overall environmental impacts of EU consumption compared to the global LCIA-based PBs, impacts of EU consumption related to climate change, particulate matter, land use and mineral resources were close or already transgressed the global boundaries. The EU, with less than 10% of the world population, was close to transgress the global ecological limits. Moreover, when downscaling the global PBs and comparing the impacts per capita for an average EU citizen and a global one, the LCIA-PBs were significantly transgressed in many impact categories. The results are affected by uncertainty mainly due to: (a) the intrinsic uncertainties of the different LCA modelling approaches and indicators; (b) the uncertainties in estimating LCIA-based PBs, due to the difficulties in identifying limits for the Earth's processes and referring them to LCIA metrics. The results may anyway be used to define benchmarks and policy targets to ensure that consumption and production in Europe remains within safe ecological boundaries, as well as to understand the magnitude of the effort needed to reduce the impacts.
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Corporate carbon performance (CCP) has become a central topic in political, financial, and academic domains. At the same time, several characteristics of CCP data, including comparability and consistency, remain unresolved. The literature has extensively covered issues regarding the comparability of CCP data from a firm‐internal perspective. However, it has not yet examined the consistency of CCP data between third‐party data providers. This article investigates the degree of CCP data consistency between third‐party providers according to three dimensions: scope (i.e., direct and indirect emissions), scheme (i.e., mandatory and voluntary reporting schemes), and source (i.e., data stemming from corporate reports and from third‐party estimation methods). The results reveal that data on direct emissions are more consistent than data on indirect emissions, and they are especially inconsistent for Scope 3. Second, mandatory and voluntary reporting schemes do not substantially improve the consistency of CCP data, which is surprising. Third, third‐party estimations are less consistent as compared to data stemming directly from corporate reports; however, the combination of Scopes 1 and 2 third‐party estimated data raises consistency levels. On the basis of these results, we conclude the following key implications: academic researchers must be mindful of the consistency of CCP data, because it can significantly affect empirical results, corporate management should avoid situations where different CCP data are communicated externally, investors should engage firms to follow a standardized approach, data providers should increase the transparency about their estimation methods, and policy makers need to be aware of the importance of a sound and standardized methodology to determine CCP.
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In environmental management and sustainability there is an increasing interest in measurement and accounting of beneficial impact—as an incentive to action, as a communication tool, and to move toward a positive, constructive approach focused on opportunities rather than problems. One approach uses the metaphor of a “handprint,” complementing the notion of environmental footprints, which have been widely adopted for impact measurement and accounting. We analyze this idea by establishing core principles of handprint thinking: Handprint encourages actions with positive impacts and connects to analyses of footprint reductions but adds value to them and addresses the issue of what action should be taken. We also identify five key questions that need to be addressed and decisions that need to be made in performing a (potentially quantitative) handprint assessment, related to scoping of the improvement to be made, how it is achieved, and how credit is assigned, taking into account constraints on action. A case study of the potential water footprint reduction of an average Finn demonstrates how handprint thinking can be a natural extension of footprint reduction analyses. We find that there is a diversity of possible handprint assessments that have the potential to encourage doing good. Their common foundation is “handprint thinking.”
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Purpose Social indicators are not easy to be quantitatively analyzed, although at the local scale, the social impacts might be relevant and important. Using the existing approaches for both quantitative and semi-qualitative measurements, this study aims to assess the social impacts of a company working on algae production systems in Belgium through social life cycle analysis (SLCA). By highlighting the opportunities and challenges on the way of applying the existing SLCA approaches at company level, the objective of this study is to contribute to the development of a suitable and clear SLCA approach when a company is considered as the unit of analysis. Methods Based on the list of potential social impact categories suggested by the United Nations Environment Program/Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (UNEP/SETAC) guidelines (2009) for SLCA, three stakeholder groups (workers, consumers, and local community) and three subcategories associated with each stakeholder group were identified as the most relevant for carbon capture and utilization technologies. Company and sector level data were collected using existing documents and reports, and the data were analyzed and scored using a combined quantitative and semi-quantitative approach to develop a social assessment model for the case study. Results and discussion The company appears to perform well for all the evaluated social indicators except the one related to the subcategory “equal opportunity/discrimination for workers” for which the share of women employed is lower compared with the sector-level data. The results of our assessment were further discussed regarding the challenges and limitations of performing SLCA at the company level. Based on our experience, the validity of the outcomes is significantly influenced by the data availability, the generality of the indicators introduced within the UNEP/SETAC guidelines, and the subjectivity in data collection for the semi-quantitative assessment among others. Conclusions By highlighting the difficulties and challenges of applying the SLCA at the company level, our study provides a starting point for improving the quantitative assessment and monitoring social implications at the company level within a regional foreground in Europe.
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Purpose Environmental product declarations (EPDs) are standardized tools based on life cycle assessment (LCA) to communicate and compare environmental performance of products according to well-defined product category rules (PCRs). However, despite the comparability enabled by the PCRs, the use of this information for benchmarking is still challenging, since there is still no consensus or standardization regarding techniques and procedures to be adopted. Therefore, here, we suggest and apply a framework to benchmark and develop a ranking system for the products based on data from EPDs. Methods The proposed framework is based on efficiency assessment using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The main advantages of DEA are that it does not require potentially non-scientific factors, e.g., for normalization and that it provides an efficiency score based on all the used indicators, rather than just based on a subset of them. A five-step benchmarking framework is presented which includes data collection from EPDs, statistical analyses, selection of the variables, application of DEA, and cluster analysis to establish the environmental performance ranking on a scale from A (best) to E (worst). In order to illustrate the applicability of the proposal, two case studies of different product categories are presented: bakery products and insulation materials. Results and discussion In the first case, 72 bakery products are evaluated of which 9 were ranked in the category A, while 9 other products are considered the most inefficient and were ranked in category E. For insulation materials, 89 products are evaluated and 9 are categorized as A of which 5 are considered efficient, while the category E comprises 20 products. The results obtained through DEA are compared with those from other approaches (being internal normalization and external normalization, respectively, each with subsequent aggregation) to obtain single scores. There are significant differences in the results obtained from the three approaches, especially when dealing with trade-offs, because DEA does not relate the scores to specific values, but to a so-called “efficiency frontier”. Conclusions The use of DEA allows an analysis based on the efficiency of the products in terms of environmental performance and can be applied using data from EPDs. The framework proposed allows benchmarking of the results and opens a new perspective to contribute to the issue of limitations in the communication function of EPDs. However, DEA is limited to analyzing the efficiency of a given product in relation to a pre-determined group.
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The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent consensual, global scale targets, encouraging not only the fight against unsustainable aspects in society (e. g., poverty or hunger) but also positive contributions to sustainable development (e. g., renewable energy use or human well-being). The SDGs are, however, not per se designed as a performance measurement system for businesses and products. Consequently, research is challenged to develop convincing approaches and indicator systems that capture how businesses contribute to the SDGs. Against this background, the Handprint approach was developed. This paper documents methodological developments of a respective research project and extends the focus from reducing unsustainable, negative business practices toward striving for positive contributions to sustainable development in sustainability assessment and management. We first summarize the status quo of assessing positive contributions to sustainable development in research and practice. While a “Footprint” approach primarily measures negative environmental and/or social impacts, the “Handprint” approach focuses on positive contributions to sustainable development. Second, we illustrate and prioritize core assessment categories and indicators. Third, we describe how a sustainability assessment approach to evaluate positive contributions to sustainable development at the product level was developed and demonstrate its feasibility in a pilot case study.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework and key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the sustainability of the manufacturing organizations along the integrated supply chain. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review of existing peer-reviewed articles has been carried out to understand the strengths and weaknesses of current frameworks. A sustainability assessment framework has been proposed for the manufacturing sector. KPIs to assess sustainability performance of manufacturing organizations are identified. An empirical study is carried out for the cement industry to test the proposed framework and KPIs. Findings The existing frameworks on sustainability assessment lacks an integrated assessment consisting product life cycle, resources, critical factors (product, process and policy), KPIs and their interrelationship with sustainability dimensions. In total, 121 KPIs are identified for sustainability assessment of manufacturing organizations. The empirical study of the Indian cement industry identifies 52 KPIs (17 social, 15 economic and 20 environmental), which are classified into 13 factors using exploratory factor analysis. Research limitations/implications The proposed framework is tested for the cement sector. More studies are required to validate and refine the framework to make it generalized for the manufacturing sector. Originality/value This study has developed for the first time a close interrelation among life cycle engineering, resources, critical factors, KPIs and sustainability dimensions.
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Purpose Product sustainability assessment should evaluate the impacts on all three dimensions of sustainability (environment, economy, and society). Life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) is a framework that extends life cycle-based product assessment to all three dimensions. Evaluation of trade-off situations poses a challenge within LCSA in a business context, especially if improvement measures for product sustainability lead to higher costs. This paper introduces the concept of the Product Sustainability Budget (PSB) to enable a decision for improvement measures despite of rising costs. It demonstrates a way to create such a PSB and how to combine it with an operationalized LCSA framework at an automotive company. Methods A survey was carried out asking 250 potential customers of the premium car segment in Germany via Choice-Based-Conjoint-Analysis (CBCA) about their preference of a sustainability interior package in a car. The sustainability package was one of the three specifications of a potential car interior (standard, luxury, sustainability) and was asked along four other attributes (price, drive train, engine power, and consumption). The survey was expanded by an Advanced-Van-Westendorp analysis to ask respondents about their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for such a package. The major findings of the study (take rate and price for the sustainability interior package) were then implemented in a business case logic from which the PSB was created. Results and discussion Nineteen percent of the entire sample would prefer the sustainability interior package to the other packages (=potential take rate) while the rest (81%) favored the luxury package. The package should be sold to this (potential) target group at price premium of 1.3–1.7% for a middle class limousine (or 0.4–1.1% when corrected for overstated WTP). It could be shown in a theoretical business case logic for such a sustainability package that the profit could be converted to form the PSB, which could compensate an increase in costs caused by a measure to improve product sustainability. The PSB opened up a solution space to identify the ideal set out of several possible improvement measures. Conclusions The introduction of an LCSA evaluation scheme on component level in combination with the proposed Product Sustainability Budget could enable substantial product sustainability improvement even when costs increase. The combination of an implicit CBCA and an explicit WTP study delivered a sound basis for creating this Product Sustainability Budget. The proposed concept should be applied in a business context to test its viability and additionally investigate customers’ WTP for improved social impacts.
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An absolute environmental sustainability assessment (AESA) addresses whether a production or consumption activity can be considered environmentally sustainable in an absolute sense. This involves a comparison of its environmental pressure to its allocated environmental carrying capacity. AESA methods have been developed in multiple academic fields, each using their own set of concepts and terms with little communication across the fields. A recent growing interest in using AESA methods for decision support calls for a better common understanding of the constituents of an AESA method and how it can be communicated to scientific peers and to potential users. With this aim, we develop a framework for AESA methods, composed of a succession of four assessment steps and involving six methodological choices that must be made by the method developer or the user. We then use the framework to analyze and compare five selected AESA methods that focus on the release of phosphorus and nitrogen to the environment. In this manner, we show that the framework is able to systematically differentiate AESA methods that initially appear to be similar. Intended users of the framework include (1) method developers communicating new AESA methods to academic peers or potential method users and (2) researchers comparing a group of existing AESA methods and communicating their differences to their peers and to potential users looking for guidance on method selection.
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Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to review the indicators for the three aspects (environment, economy and society) of sustainability (the triple-bottom line perspective) for manufacturing sectors. In addition, this article aimed to (i) document the sustainability indicators for manufacturing sectors, (ii) perform an analysis of these indicators to show their evolutional progress and maturity in terms of their consistent, repeated and standardized usage, and (iii) highlight the further work needed to make them mature and more standardized. Design/methodology/approach: The following keywords were used to explore and find the relevant articles: sustainable manufacturing evaluation, sustainability indicators, life cycle assessment, tools for sustainability assessment, and economic and social evaluation in industries. To find articles within this sample, the major focus remained on the terms “indicators”, “metrics”, and “performance measures”. This paper systematically reviewed the studies and analyzed the different sustainability indicators from the triple-bottom line viewpoint. Following this, the documented indicators were critically discussed along with their evolutional progress and maturity level. Findings: The results showed that solid waste was the least used and immature aspect in the environmental category, whereas the more frequently used and developed indicators were related to material used, energy used and air emissions. Economic assessment was most of the time, limited to cost based indicators. From a social viewpoint, most of the reviewed studies were based on workers and local community and society related indicators rather than consumers based indicators. From a sectoral viewpoint, comparatively, studies for metal manufacturing industries were more focused on all three dimensions of sustainability. On an overall basis, of the 144 discussed indicators, almost 34% (49) were used just once. Comparatively, the usage of indicators was more mature in manufacturing activities of developed countries than developing ones. Moreover, the usage of indicators was more common at the product level than at the other levels. Originality/value: Unlike previous sustainability indicator sets which were generally long lists of proposed indicators rather than applicable and measurable ones, this article reported the indicator sets based on studies for manufacturing sectors. Moreover, in contrast to previous reviews on indicators which were mostly based on the environmental dimension, this article included all three dimensions of sustainability in one comprehensive review while focusing on recent studies published from 2007 to 2017. This article has explored the recent evolutional progress and maturity of sustainability indicators, and provided insights into their development in manufacturing sectors.
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The sustainable development agenda has been driving the global debate on environmental policy for several years now. Developed countries have stricter environmental controls and are under pressure from international agencies to cut pollution. However, many of these countries have been accused of using Foreign Direct Investment to shift their environmental burden to countries with lower environmental restrictions, rather than reducing their overall environmental impact. Should developed countries continue to transfer their emissions? What role does the energy structure of recipient countries play in this investment? A Panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model was carried out for a set of 15 OECD countries, from 2005 to 2018. The main findings upheld the Pollution Halo hypothesis. However, they also confirmed the Pollution Haven hypothesis, which was unexpected for developed countries, with their higher environmental standards. It seems that Foreign Direct Investment may increase pollution by increasing overall energy consumption, rather than by transferring polluting industries. Foreign Direct Investment inflows seem to be more environmentally friendly than inward stock, particularly in the electricity and services sectors. Energy transition could be achieved without the polluting effect of Foreign Direct Investment. Investment in the electricity sector may be a way of decoupling economic growth from pollution.
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The current global economy demands synergies between ecological responsiveness and business models. To analyse this dynamic, this study investigates the relationship between green innovation and corporate financial performance for German HDAX companies from 2008 to 2019 by constructing an green innovation measure. A two-step GMM system and penalised-spline estimation are used to test the linear relationship between green innovation and financial proxies (return on assets, return on invested capital, and the market-to-book ratio). The results indicate a linear positive effect of green innovation on different financial performance measures. This suggests that green innovation drives resource efficiency and enhances corporate reputation, which, in turn, boosts financial performance.
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The indiscriminate use of plastics and careless management of plastic waste have caused serious environmental challenges globally. The Republic of Korea (ROK) aims to address the issue by reducing plastic waste generation by up to 50%, and increasing recycling rate by up to 70%, by 2030. To determine the status and future directions for plastic waste management in the ROK, the present study undertook two tasks: (i) a material flow analysis of plastic waste material from industrial sectors to assess the current status of plastic waste recycling and treatment, (ii) an analysis of the material flow of plastic waste based on the “Waste Classification Code.” According to the findings, 6.202 million metric tons of plastic waste were generated in 2018, out of which 69%, 25%, and 0.5% was recycled, incinerated, and landfilled, respectively. The recycling rate of synthetic resin waste, which accounts for 96% of synthetic waste polymers discharged in the industrial sector, was 69%, which is a very high rate. However, the closed-loop recycling rate was only 33%. Therefore, the system of management of synthetic resin waste discharge without classification of raw materials should be improved to increase the closed-loop recycling rate of synthetic waste polymers. Furthermore, to increase the closed-loop recycling rate, we suggest the subdivision of synthetic resin waste (51-03-01) in plastic waste classification to improve the discharge separation system, which has been mismanaged. Furthermore, we suggest the formulation of a new management strategy for plastic waste, in accordance with those of other hazardous substances, as regulated by the Waste Control Act.
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The purpose of this study is to address the criticism that corporate environmental activities to meet the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) are simply greenwashing. To this end, we clarify whether and why corporate environmental activities are effective in achieving SDGs from the stakeholder management perspective. Using data on Vietnamese companies, we first empirically clarify the influence of stakeholder pressure on a company's environmental management control system (EMCS) implementation as a comprehensive approach to environmental activities and maintaining a proactive attitude toward the SDGs. Second, we examine the influence of EMCS implementation on environmental performance with or without proactive attitudes. The main findings are as follows. Companies implementing EMCSs normally improve their environmental performance, and pressure from final consumers and the government is a precondition for this accomplishment. However, if these companies incorporate the SDGs into their business targets, they can actually improve their environmental performance somewhat further, and government pressure plays an important role in this additional accomplishment. Therefore, corporate environmental activities to meet the SDGs work better than existing activities in Vietnam, refuting the criticism of greenwashing. Importantly, the Vietnamese government as a powerful stakeholder has proactively promoted domestic structural change to achieve the SDGs and has enacted many policies to encourage companies to be proactive in their environmental activities.
Article
This paper applies an innovative approach to monitoring social effects occurring before and during construction of two hydroelectric dams in Canada. The two studied dams, Site C and Keeyask, are under construction in Canada and underwent community-based impact assessment (CBIA). News coverage and the CBIA documents were analyzed to understand and compare how those two groups perceive social effects induced by the two projects. CBIAs contain concerns expressed by affected people, whereas news coverage can include quotes from both affected people and decisionmakers involved in the assessment process. By contrasting these datasets, we found that the documents are complementary: while CBIAs are comprehensive in assessing community concerns, news outlets can reveal how those concerns evolved throughout different phases of the projects' implementation. This approach fills a gap in SIA around monitoring of key social effects around local conflicts and disputes, psychosocial effects, socioeconomic effects, and cumulative effects on a daily life. Furthermore, by contrasting the views identified within the impact assessments and the media, the study demonstrates how specific concerns diverged: affected people focus on local social effects while decisionmakers' interests lie in a broader political perspective grounded in local sacrifices ‘for the good of the whole province’. Our analysis emphasizes the role of political power over decision making that can inhibit CBIA and social impact assessment practice from contributing to socially sustainable projects.
Article
This paper examines the relationship between sustainability targets and their impacts on corporate environmental innovation. Using data over the period 2009-2018 on 202 companies from BRICS countries, covering firm-level governance, social responsibility, and sustainability, this paper examines whether firm-level sustainability targets and incentives encourage managers to engage in more environmentally friendly activities. Using panel data probit regression, and after controlling for country-level governance and institutional factors, the study finds that embedding environmental targets in corporate strategy does encourage corporate managers to design and develop eco-friendly products and services, and such firm-level commitments at the top motivates managers to promote, market, and label environmentally friendly products. The findings call for greater emphasis on aligning executive compensation with sustainability targets rather than focusing too much on short-term accounting and market-based measures of firm performance.
Article
The paper provides a systematic literature review to investigate whether circular economy (CE) performance in the technical cycle will contribute to the sustainable development. Two academic databases, namely Scopus and Web of Science were used to retrieve research papers which span over the period 2000–2019. The research articles were classified according to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) addressed, industries involved, key areas of CE, pillars of sustainability, CE principles (R-Imperatives and Systems perspective), type of cycle in CE, and transversality (generic, product-specific and sector-specific). The review highlights various research gaps concerning the proposed classification. The research gaps will provide new emerging areas to the CE and will help to align the CE performance with the SDGs.
Article
Eco-industrial parks promise to reduce environmental and social impacts and improve the economic performance of industrial parks. However, the transition from industrial parks to eco-industrial parks is still not well understood. This study contributes to developing valid hierarchical eco-industrial park transition attribute sets with qualitative information, as prior studies lack an exploration of the attributes in the transition of eco-industrial parks in Hungary. In nature, eco-industrial park transition attributes have causal and hierarchical interrelationships and are described with qualitative information. The assessment involves an analysis of the industrial symbiosis principles by using linguistic preferences. However, multiple attributes are involved in the assessment; therefore, this study proposes the Delphi method to develop a valid attribute set and applies fuzzy set theory to translate qualitative information into crisp values. The fuzzy decision-making trial evaluation laboratory method is used to visualize the attributes’ causal interrelationships under uncertainties. The results indicate that the policy and regulatory framework leads to collaboration among firms in the eco-industrial park transition model. In practice, price reforms, management commitment, strategic planning, cognitive barriers and the integration of external information are the practical criteria for improvement. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
Article
Ecosystems have a huge impact on social systems through providing diverse services. Sustainable management of social and ecological systems requires the quantification of spatial relationships between the supply, demand, and use of these ecosystem services. The main purpose of this paper was to provide a framework addressing all the complicated relationships of ecosystem services between ecological and social systems. Sustainable management cannot be achieved without considering these complex relationships. To simplify these complexities, management priorities must be identified. In this study, spatial changes of supply, use, and demand of ecosystem services and their main drivers were investigated. A Public Participation Geographic Information System was used to map the supply, demand and use of 19 ecosystem services in semiarid landscapes of Iran. Multi Criteria Decision Making methods were also used to link ecosystem services to social well-being. The main drivers of tradeoffs between supply, use, and demand of ecosystem services were determined using General Linear Method. The results showed that there was a synergy between supply, demand and use of ecosystem services in highlands. The deficit zones of ecosystem services were concentrated in lowlands. Provisioning services were the most important services for social well-being. The framework presented in this paper revealed all the complex relationships that the environmental management is faced with in ecosystem and social systems. Simplifying integrated relationships in both ecosystems (supply) and social systems (demand and use) helps sustainable management of ecosystems under environmental and social changes.
Article
The pressure on the apparel industry to make its products more sustainable is growing. Concrete measures have hardly been taken so far, also because they aim to avoid consumption which reduces profits. Studies mostly examine impacts on the environment, but not how the market volume can remain at a maximum for producers. To uncover direct market effects from sustainability approaches, this study asked 500 German consumers about their willingness-to-pay and preference order for three different measures, namely “slowing in consumption”, “recyclability of petrochemical clothing” or its “production from bioplastics”. An outdoor trekking jacket served as test object, and influences from sociodemographic and latent variables, as sportiness and environmental awareness, were measured. The results were mapped in a market model from which the output volume was derived. It was found that interest in the topic of plastics-containing outdoor clothing was rather determined by the application. This increased with the sportiness of the respondents (r = 0.13; p = 0.003), but not with their personal environmental awareness. Consent to bioplastics use did not depend on the level of experience, but older consumers appreciated this option more (p = 0.027). Only 20% of the respondents favoured slowing, 26% bioplastics, but 53% recycling of petroplastics. Therefore, research should investigate recyclability, policy should support this measure, and companies should practice take-back and reuse in new clothing. Consumers can maintain fast consumption and would even accept higher prices.
Article
Several initiatives have been proposed to address food waste and loss issues and support stakeholders throughout the food chain. However, the literature still lacks a review paper that compiles methods, practices, and solutions to reduce food waste and loss. With the goal of filling this gap, this paper aims to compile and gather food waste and loss prevention and minimization methods to support decision-makers and other stakeholders along the food chain. Through a systematic literature review, we have outlined research findings and empirical studies on food waste and loss prevention and minimization methods previously published, studied, implemented, and discussed in the scientific literature worldwide. A sample of 84 articles was analyzed. As a result, this study provides a bibliometric analysis of the sample and a classification of the prevention and minimization methods found in the articles in 10 fields established by the authors. A coverage analysis of empirical studies was also performed, cross-checking the data with the type of food extracted from the case studies application. Lastly, suggestions of future research extracted from the articles were compiled into a research agenda to indicate trends and support academics, researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders involved in the food chain to develop and study practices to minimize and prevent food waste and loss. The main contribution of this study is an inventory of the theoretical and practical methods of prevention and minimization of food waste and loss found in the literature, grouping them according to their similarities, to support stakeholders improving actions to reduce food waste in cities, farms, retail, and other sustainable ecosystems.
Article
The research objective is to analyze how companies address their contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to manage their legitimacy. Reaching the SDGs by 2030 is considered vital for the well-being of humanity and the planet with multiple parties challenged to contribute. This requires changes in current routines, including the “business-as-usual” of companies, as achieving the SDGs without companies is unlikely. However, how companies address their contribution to the SDGs is unexplored. Informed by legitimacy theory, FTSE 100 reports on sustainability performance are analyzed deductively with a classification scheme, complemented by an inductive thematic analysis. Two-thirds of companies address the SDGs and legitimize their contributions by mapping the SDGs to existing activities or using them as inspiration for future activities, either for their core business or sustainability as an add-on. The resulting four legitimization strategies - conciliatory, transparency, stimulation, and transformation - largely indicate symbolic rather than substantive disclosure without changes to the “business-as-usual”. The paper contributes to literature and practice by developing a framework of four corporate legitimization strategies and evaluates these efforts critically. The paper concludes that at this point, while all four strategies might be suitable from a legitimacy perspective, if the aim is to achieve the SDGs by 2030, the dominantly symbolic legitimization strategies are insufficient.
Article
Stakeholder analysis (SA) is a widely used decision-support tool. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of SA within environmental management and regulation. In total, 48 SA studies from the peer-reviewed literature were investigated according to 7 aspects: Topic and purpose; Elements included; Geographical area; Definition of key terms; Methods used; Authors self-evaluation and Inclusion. We find that the SAs conducted cover a broad spectrum of environmental issues. The most applied data-collection methods are snowball-sampling (26 studies, 54%), interviews (30 studies, 63%) and literature reviews (26 studies, 54%). The most examined stakeholder attributes were interests (41 studies, 85%) and influence (34 studies, 71%). We find that there is a lack of clear definitions of key-terms such as “Stakeholder” (19 studies, 40%) and “Influence” (14 studies, 29%). SAs are often conducted by authors from other geographical areas than the case study, which could explain why marginalised stakeholders are only considered in 21 of the studies (44%). In only half of the studies (24 studies, 50%), the authors reflect upon limitations and biases of their own analysis. Among others, three important lessons learned from our study are: 1) Transparency with regard to methodology, results and decisions made is of paramount importance as it otherwise undermines the credibility of SA; 2) Definition of key-terms such as “stakeholder” and “influence” need to be provided in future SAs to avoid misunderstandings; and finally, 3) Clear guidelines on how to perform SA are needed, including how to determine interests and power, and how to document and report findings.
Article
This paper aims at integrating the bodies of literature on stakeholder theory and sustainability accounting. Using the conceptual methodological approach of theory synthesis, stakeholder theory is employed as a method theory to advance sustainability accounting as a domain theory. On this basis the concept of ‘Accounting for Sustainability and Stakeholders’ is developed. This concept highlights which sustainability topics and which stakeholders to consider in accounting for a given organization and how the inclusion of additional stakeholders and topics can contribute to creating value for stakeholders. In conclusion, this paper highlights that an overly broad inclusion of stakeholder groups and sustainability topics can be replaced by a purposeful selection of stakeholders and topics of particular relevance for the specific organization. As an additional advantage, the concept prevents disconnecting sustainability accounting from conventional accounting.
Article
Large companies now commonly release corporate sustainability (CS) reports in which they describe their approach to handle sustainability challenges. To guide environmental sustainability efforts in the industry, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has been recognized as an important tool by researchers and policy makers. But to what extent has the LCA methodology been present in companies' narratives through their CS reports up to now? To answer this question, we map references to the LCA methodology in CS reports over the past two decades at geographical, sectoral, and company levels through keyword searching within an extensive database (~45,000 CS reports), analyze trends, and highlight challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to strengthen the presence of LCA in CS reports. The results show that LCA generally remains weakly present in CS reporting, with some geographical and sectoral variations. Recommendations to strengthen LCA presence in CS reports are derived for method developers, policy makers, and companies.
Article
Purpose: Social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is a methodology under continuous development, which may be applied at different scales: from products to economic sectors up to systems at region (meso) and country (macro) scales. Traditionally, SLCA has been focusing on the assessment of negative social externalities, whereas also positive social impacts could be associated to human interventions. The purpose of the present study is to understand how positive impacts are defined in published literature and how they could be assessed through indicators. The aim is to clarify the concept among scholars and to support decision making in business and policy context. Methods: The study uses a systematic review approach in order to analyse the types of indicators adopted. In the field of SLCA and according to Paragahawewa et al. (2009), '[I]ndicators are 'pointers' to the state of the impact categories (and/or subcategories) being evaluated by the SLCA'. Indicators can be quantitative, semi-quantitative or qualitative (UNEP/SETAC 2009). This review was carried out in order to identify and analyse positive impacts and indicators. After careful scrutiny, 47 papers containing theoretical frameworks were considered, as well as 46 papers presenting case studies. Results and discussion: Compared to environmental life cycle assessment (E-LCA), where the presence of positive impacts is lower, evaluating benefits or positive impacts can still play a major role in SLCA (Benoît et al. 2010). A quarter of the analysed papers on theoretical frameworks take into account the topic of positive impacts and indicators. Results from case study analysis highlight as 'workers', was the most considered stakeholder (in 100 % of the analysed papers), and as the majority of positive indicators used in the case study analysed are recorded in relation to 'other value chain actors'. Within the concept of 'positive impacts', no reference should be made merely to the utility of a product or service. In a broader sense, we could refer to solutions improving the conditions of one or various stakeholders involved. In other words, these are solutions that carry a positive contribution to one or more stakeholders without harming others. Conclusions: So far, positive impacts are barely covered in literature. There is a clear need of streamlining definition and indicators, especially if they should be applied in a policy context complementing traditional'and often monetary-based, cost-benefit analysis (CBA).
Article
Entrepreneurship for sustainable development is a multilevel phenomenon connecting social, environmental and economic dimensions between entrepreneurial processes, market transformations, as well as large-scale societal developments. While previous articles on social, environmental, and sustainable entrepreneurship have advanced our understanding on processes of discovery, creation, and exploitation of sustainability-oriented opportunities, the links between contextual influences on venture development and transformational outcomes at multiple levels are only partially captured in extant frameworks. Drawing out causal mechanisms with a systematic review, this article proposes a multilevel framework for linking mechanisms in existing literature and proposing future research on entrepreneurship for sustainable development.
Article
The current level of corporate sustainability is insufficient for overcoming pressing environmental and social issues. Research is therefore needed about processes that lead to increased corporate action that fosters sustainable development. This study investigates the influence of feedback and corporate awareness of consequences on the development of corporate sustainability action over time. It uses action regulation theory to quantitatively analyse data of 59 large German companies measured at two points in time. The results reveal a positive temporal development of corporate sustainability action, and awareness of consequences positively mediates the relationship between corporate sustainability actions in two different time periods. Feedback acts as a moderator between the positive effect of corporate sustainability action in the first period on corporate awareness of consequences in the second period. Based on these findings, recommendations for organisations include the importance of seeking and processing feedback.
Article
Background: The increase in frequency and intensity of urban flooding is a global challenge. Flooding directly impacts residents of industrialized cities with aging combined sewer systems, as well as cities with less centralized infrastructure to manage stormwater, fecal sludge, and wastewater. Green infrastructure is growing in popularity as a sustainable strategy to mimic nature-based flood management. Although its technical performance has been extensively studied, little is known about the effects of green stormwater infrastructure on human health and social well-being. Methods: We conducted a multidisciplinary systematic review of peer-reviewed and gray literature on the effects of green infrastructure for stormwater and flood management on individuals', households', and communities' a) physical health; b) mental health; c) economic well-being; and d) flood resilience and social acceptance of green infrastructure. We systematically searched databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus; the first 300 results in Google Scholar; and websites of key organizations including the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Study quality and strength of evidence was assessed for included studies, and descriptive data were extracted for a narrative summary. Results: Out of 21,213 initial results, only 18 studies reported health or social well-being outcomes. Seven of these studies used primary data, and none allowed for causal inference. No studies connected green infrastructure for stormwater and flood management to mental or physical health outcomes. Thirteen studies were identified on economic outcomes, largely reporting a positive association between green infrastructure and property values. Five studies assessed changes in perceptions about green infrastructure, but with mixed results. Nearly half of all included studies were from Portland, Oregon. Conclusions: This global systematic review highlights the minimal evidence on human health and social well-being relating to green infrastructure for stormwater and flood management. To enable scale-up of this type of infrastructure to reduce flooding and improve ecological and human well-being, widespread acceptance of green infrastructure will be essential. Policymakers and planners need evidence on the full range of benefits from different contexts to enable financing and implementation of instfrastructure options, especially in highly urbanized, flood-prone settings around the world. Therefore, experts in social science, public health, and program evaluation must be integrated into interdisciplinary green infrastructure research to better relate infrastructure design to tangible human outcomes.
Article
Corporate carbon performance (CCP) has become an important topic in political, academic, and financial domains. However, two main challenges are associated with the quality of CCP data in general: comparability and consistency. The literature has covered extensively how firms internally gather and report CCP data, and it has highlighted the resulting issues in terms of data comparability. However, it has not yet been examined how third-party data providers reproduce CCP data and which issues in terms of data consistency emerge. This article focuses exclusively on the consistency of CCP data from an external perspective. We analyzed the degree of consistency between third-party providers according to three dimensions: scope (i.e., direct and indirect emissions), scheme (i.e., mandatory and voluntary reporting schemes), and source (i.e., data stemming from corporate reports and from third-party estimation methods). The results reveal that, first, data on direct emissions (Scope 1) are more consistent than data on indirect emissions, where it is especially inconsistent in Scope 3. Second, mandatory and voluntary reporting schemes do not substantially improve CCP data. Third, estimation methods are expectantly less consistent as compared to reported data; however, combined Scope 1 and 2 estimated data raise consistency to more acceptable levels. Based on these results, we conclude with implications for academic research, corporate management, financial markets, and policymaking.
Article
There is a broad spectrum of proactivity in environmental management practices in companies and industries, ranging from purely reactive efforts to adhere to minimum regulatory standards to innovative projects to develop new pollution preventing technologies and risk mitigation strategies. In fact, the importance of a proactive environmental management is increasingly recognized by academics, practitioners and policy makers alike. However, proactivity is still not clearly captured by current environmental management models, which often do not include it as a core element and lack practical guidelines on how to operationalize it at firm-level. In order to systematize the fragmented understanding on proactive environmental management practices applied in companies and industries, including their operationalization and determinants, we conducted a comprehensive review of 116 academic papers. Our results are presented and discussed along three main perspectives: (i) evolutionary stage models; (ii) typology models; and (iii) proactive practices. By comparing these three perspectives, we found that only the evolutionary stage models can fully capture proactive environmental management approaches in an integrative way, while the other two perspectives assume proactivity is highly specific of an organizational sector or function. The results also allow us to clarify and distinguish proactivity-related terms and concepts that are often used interchangeably, such as cleaner production, pollution prevention and eco-efficiency. Finally, we developed a synthetizing framework of the current literature on firm-level environmental proactivity that integrates proactive practices (divided into three dimensions: organizational, operational, and communicational), drivers of proactivity and evolutionary maturity stages towards increased proactivity. This framework not only consolidates the current state-of-the-art in terms of proactive environmental management practices but it can also be thought of as a starting point for further research on the topic.
Article
Achieving sustainable manufacturing in enterprises in all three dimensions (economic, social, environmental) involves complex decision-making processes. New environmental regulations, requirements set by customers for sustainable products, and economic benefits through for example resource savings are drivers for enterprises to consider manufacturing from a sustainable perspective. To support decision makers in enterprises, decision-support systems can be used to analyze the production from a sustainable perspective and to create suggestions for optimization of products and processes. This literature review addresses decision-support systems for sustainable manufacturing and presents the most commonly used sustainable indicators and decision-making methods. The literature review is focused on research approach which consider all three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental) and on decision support systems applied in the phases of the product and production life-cycle (product and production design, production planning, production, and remanufacturing of processes and products). The results of the review show, that current investigations of decision support systems are more focused on the integration of sustainability in all three dimensions (economic, environmental, and social) at the strategic planning level (design and remanufacturing of products and processes), which is not reflected well at the operational level (production planning and controlling), where decision-making is mostly driven by single sustainable dimensions (environmental and economic). In addition to economic and environmental objectives, sustainable production planning and controlling systems should also consider social planning objectives. Further research is required to identify which sustainable indicators can be considered in sustainable production planning and controlling systems.
Article
The increase in environmental problems in recent decades has required the evolution of the tools used to mitigate environmental impacts, such as Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the use of LCA in Brazilian companies. Data collection involved a questionnaire administrated to companies addressing attitudes related to environmental management, enabling the following three classifications: (1) Does not use Life Cycle Thinking (LCT), (2) Uses LCT and (3) Uses LCA. The results were categorized and submitted to both descriptive and multivariate analyses. Most companies investigated do not yet use LCA. The main obstacles were difficulties involved in implementing LCA, the lack of an external demand, a lack of available background data and difficulty applying the results to the environmental improvement of products. In contrast, the main reasons that led companies to use LCA were the possibility of reducing environmental impact, achieving improvements in the production process, the creation of a differentiated product for the market and the improvement of environmental management. The findings underscore the need for greater governmental support with regard to environmental labeling (mainly type III) and greater dissemination of information on LCA within industries, since the lack of knowledge of the tool is perceived as one of the greatest obstacles. This research is pioneering in Brazil. Further studies should identify the evolution in LCA use in Brazilian companies, which should reflect an improvement in environmental management on the national level.
Article
Research on sustainability transitions has expanded rapidly in the last ten years, diversified in terms of topics and geographical applications, and deepened with respect to theories and methods. This article provides an extensive review and an updated research agenda for the field, classified into nine main themes: understanding transitions; power, agency and politics; governing transitions; civil society, culture and social movements; businesses and industries; transitions in practice and everyday life; geography of transitions; ethical aspects; and methodologies. The review shows that the scope of sustainability transitions research has broadened and connections to established disciplines have grown stronger. At the same time, we see that the grand challenges related to sustainability remain unsolved, calling for continued efforts and an acceleration of ongoing transitions. Transition studies can play a key role in this regard by creating new perspectives, approaches and understanding and helping to move society in the direction of sustainability.
Article
Various surveys reveal that many stakeholders deem current sustainability performance measurement and assessment approaches insufficient for their needs. In light of the large and growing number of publications, this exposes a major practice-research gap. To explore the gap between the flourishing number of publications and the disappointment of stakeholders, this paper analyzes how current literature on sustainability performance measurement and assessment addresses stakeholder expectations. Based on a systematic literature review, the paper distinguishes stakeholders and their expectations on different roles in the sustainability performance measurement and assessment process: standard setters, process enablers, information providers, impacted stakeholder, decision makers, and addressees. The analysis of individual roles reveals that stakeholder expectations are rarely specifically considered; in particular, expectations of decision makers have received little attention in the literature, so far. This paper systematically categorizes the expectations expressed in the academic literature and critically discusses current gaps. The literature review shows that stakeholder expectations have not been considered in depth, which is a possible explanation for the dissatisfaction of stakeholders with current sustainability performance measurement and assessment approaches. Implications for bridging the gap are drawn, including the need for empirical analyses of expectations relating to different stakeholder roles in sustainability measurement and assessment processes.
Article
The capacity to calculate and communicate the beneficial environmental impact of products and services is lacking in scientific guidelines. To fill this gap, this article presents a new approach for calculating the carbon handprint of products. The core of the suggested approach involves comparing the carbon footprint of an improved product with the carbon footprint of the baseline product, and subsequently calculating the reduction in greenhouse gas emission that can be achieved by utilizing the improved product. The proposed approach is founded on the standardized life cycle assessment methodology for footprints until the use stage, and it provides a framework to recognize the effects of the remaining life cycle stages in the actual operational environment. This calculation is meant to be used by manufacturers that wish to show potential customers the positive climate impacts offered by the manufacturer's product. The carbon handprint approach complements the existing methodologies by introducing new definitions and consistent guidelines for comparing the baseline product and the improved product. This article presents the developed calculation approach and demonstrates the approach with one case study about renewable diesel. Results of the diesel handprint calculation indicate that a driver can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by choosing renewable diesel over baseline fuel. Thus, the producer of the renewable diesel will create a handprint. Organizations can use carbon handprints for quantifying the greenhouse gas reductions their customers can achieve by utilizing the product. Thus, the carbon handprint can be a powerful tool in communications and marketing. By conducting carbon handprint assessments, a company can also find out how their product qualifies in comparison to baseline products. Therefore, carbon handprints can also support decision-making and lifelong product design.
Article
Polymetallic concentrates obtained during ore beneficiation pose a significant problem for the mining and metallurgy industry due to an increase in load on subsequent comminution steps and a high loss of metals in slag during smelting. Storage of such slag can lead to pollution of groundwater due to weathering. Biohydrometallurgy is an option for the processing of sulfidic raw materials that has a low impact on the environment. Processing of sulfidic concentrates of copper-zinc ore via bioleaching techniques was studied in this paper. Three mixed microbial cultures of acidophilic microorganisms were enriched from industrial mining sites: two autotrophic mesophilic cultures containing Acidithiobacillus ferroxidans and Leptospirillum spp. (grown at 30 and 35 °C), and a mixotrophic moderate thermophilic culture containing Sulfobacillus thermotolerans, Leptospirillum ferriphilum, as well as the archaea Ferroplasma acidiphilum and Acidiplasma spp. (grown at 40 °C). The autotrophic microbial culture growing at 30 °C was used to generate an iron-containing biosolution for ferric leaching of a copper-zinc concentrate. Zinc and iron extracted into solution faster than copper during high-temperature (80 °C) ferric leaching of the concentrate due to galvanic interactions between minerals, redox conditions of the medium, and differences between mineral oxidation mechanisms. Weight loss of the leach residue was 34.0%, with relative copper content increased by 1.0%, zinc content decreased by 6.18%, and iron content decreased by 15.1%. Biooxidation of ferrous iron in the pregnant leach solution by three microbial cultures was also studied. The most effective culture was moderate thermophilic. The results of studies on the bioregeneration of leaching solutions are relevant to the development of a two-step biohydrometallurgical technology for processing of copper-zinc concentrate with a closed cycle of technological flows. The ferrous iron biooxidation rate by the moderate thermophilic culture reached 20 g L-1 day-1. The leach residue obtained can be considered a high-grade copper concentrate able to be processed via smelting. This bioleaching process would make it possible to reduce pollution of groundwater by some toxic metals stored in slags. An environmentally friendly technology flow sheet for copper-zinc sulfidic ore processing using two-step bioleaching treatment was proposed.
Article
Research in the field of social cognitive neuroscience is advancing rapidly, accelerated by technological innovation in brain imaging. This research is producing novel insights as to how humans process information, make decisions and behave in response to the growing imperatives for sustainability management. Recent research findings have implications for the theoretical foundations of sustainability management as well as the practical challenges confronting managers. Neuroscientific evidence underscores the magnitude of the challenges. Physiological evidence of six neural processes, hardwired via synaptic connections and potentially antagonistic to enhanced sustainability management, establish the structure of the paper. These neural phenomena, which are reflexive and preconscious, include: amygdala intercept, in‐group/out‐group differentiation, loss aversion, implicit persuasion and priming effects – cognitive and cultural. Propositions are advanced linking neurological processes to sustainability management. The paper concludes with strategic considerations and practical implications for greater integration between social cognitive neuroscience and sustainability management research.
Article
Environmental issues have become increasingly important for companies and society in general, and information about them is of concern, to the extent that many companies have been criticized for their negative impact on the environment, rather than for their technological and economic performance. This paper attempts to go a step further by developing an index of environmental issues from the Thomson Reuters Eikon database using statistical techniques to analyze the type of environmental information that companies report internationally. An index of 71 environmental variables was constructed and a dependency model was set up to determine the explanatory variables that may influence this index of environmental disclosure. Innovation, economic development and geographical areas are some of the variables used that have been less tested in previous studies.
Article
Sustainable entrepreneurship is seen as a promising approach aiming to solve complex social, environmental, and economic problems with innovative solutions. Whilst the concept of collaboration provides an important conceptual overlap between the entrepreneurship and sustainability literatures, it has so far received little attention in sustainable entrepreneurship research. The purpose of this article is to explore links between collaborative entrepreneurship and sustainable development. Sustainability challenges increase the importance for entrepreneurial collaboration in three ways: first, for cross-actor participation within entrepreneurial processes; second, for coordinating across sustainability issues and between entrepreneurial solutions; and third, for cross-sector cooperation between different forms of entrepreneurship such as social entrepreneurship, sustainable entrepreneurship, and policy entrepreneurship. We show how understanding this link between collaborative entrepreneurship and sustainable development sheds new light on both entrepreneurship theory and practice as well as sustainability research.
Article
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to first present potential areas of research for measuring sustainability performance that emerged in a joint researcher–practitioner workshop at the 19th Environmental and Sustainability Management Accounting Network Europe Conference, organized in cooperation with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Second, the methodology applied to gain these insights, the world café approach, is critically reviewed. Design/methodology/approach The applied method, a world café approach, facilitates collaborative dialogue and was used in the workshop to uncover underlying research themes. A generalized process flow diagram for a world café is presented, highlighting critical aspects that can guide researchers considering the use of the world café method. The results are structured by means of the 5 W (who, what, where, when, why) and 2 H (how) questions, also known as the elements of circumstance. Findings Key topics discussed by conference attendees are identified and an overview of potential areas of research are established concerning “measuring sustainability performance”, with a topical focus on impact measurement and value of sustainability. Furthermore, based on the topics identified by practitioners and researchers, this paper develops a list of questions that can guide future research. Finally, the world café method as a means of generating insights into complex topics such as sustainability performance is evaluated. Practical implications The list of research questions identified in this paper can serve as guidance for researchers for selecting relevant, practice-oriented research topics. The value of the world café method as an approach to facilitating the generation of participatory and collaborative insights was confirmed for sustainability management. The generalized process flow diagram can act as a starting point when considering the world café method for facilitating large transdisciplinary groups. Social implications The world café is a method for facilitating practitioners and researchers exchange, and thereby presents an opportunity for spanning the research–practice gap. By bringing practitioners and researchers together to identify research areas, future research is more likely to have positive social implications. Originality/value The paper presents a recent interpretation of future research gained from a large number of sustainability professionals, including practitioners and researchers, by bringing them together using a world café. The world café is a valuable method for a collaborative set-up with immediate feedback loops, which encourages dialogue, in contrast to surveys or individual interviews, on future developments in the field.
Article
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are receiving increasing attention in the private sector; however ex post assessment of operational sustainability performance remains well in advance of ex ante sustainability assessment of capital projects. It is also not yet commonplace to structure emergent forms of sustainability assessment to support the SDGs explicitly. This article reviews theoretical frameworks that aim to conceptualise sustainability assessment, and then explores the potential to develop SDG-focussed forms for use at the project-level. The extent of enhancement needed to current practice is illustrated using the case study of the Asian Development Bank. This analysis reveals that sustainability is being presented as a goal of project-level assessment and there has been progress towards delivering on this by, in particular, extending the thematic coverage. Amongst the key challenges remaining are how to address trade-offs (typically unavoidable for projects) and how to connect the SDGs, set at a global level, to the local-level where projects are considered. These findings, which reveal the gap between theory and practice, can inform efforts to develop SDG-focussed sustainability assessment.
Article
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The purpose of this chapter is to outline the development of the idea of "stakeholder management" as it has come to be applied in strategic management. We begin by developing a brief history of the concept. We then suggest that traditionally the stakeholder approach to strategic management has several related characteristics that serve as distinguishing features. We review recent work on stakeholder theory and suggest how stakeholder management has affected the practice of management. We end by suggesting further research questions.