The Impact of Carbon Pricing On International Competitiveness In The Case of Azerbaijan

This article examines the impact of carbon pricing on international competitiveness for Azerbaijan, utilizing different cointegration methods such as, ARDLBT, CCR, DOLS, and FMOLS to the data spanning from 1998 to 2019. The results of the various cointegration approaches are in line with each other. The estimation results revealed that carbon pricing has a negative and significant impact on the international competitiveness in Azerbaijan. The study concludes that the Azerbaijani policymakers should implement carbon pricing measures (implicit) to decrease energy heavy industries as well as use more renewable energy in order to prevent higher pollution effects of fossil fuels.

Plastic Pollution, Waste Management Issues, and Circular Economy Opportunities in Rural Communities

Rural areas are exposed to severe environmental pollution issues fed by industrial and agricultural activities combined with poor waste and sanitation management practices, struggling to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in line with Agenda 2030. Rural communities are examined through a “dual approach” as both contributors and receivers of plastic pollution leakage into the natural environment (through the air–water–soil–biota nexus). Despite the emerging trend of plastic pollution research, in this paper, we identify few studies investigating rural communities. Therefore, proxy analysis of peer-reviewed literature is required to outline the significant gaps related to plastic pollution and plastic waste management issues in rural regions. This work focuses on key stages such as (i) plastic pollution effects on rural communities, (ii) plastic pollution generated by rural communities, (iii) the development of a rural waste management sector in low- and middle-income countries in line with the SDGs, and (iv) circular economy opportunities to reduce plastic pollution in rural areas. We conclude that rural communities must be involved in both future plastic pollution and circular economy research to help decision makers reduce environmental and public health threats, and to catalyze circular initiatives in rural areas around the world, including less developed communities.

Visual Exploration of Energy Use in EU 28: Dynamics, Patterns, Policies

The paper places emphasis on primary energy resources, their covariation, and their correlation with socioeconomic factors and aims to provide a systematic analysis of their development over time. The analysis uses evidence from European Union (EU) country-level data and is based on visual analytics techniques. Different results from the same territories show that energy consumption does not always reflect or is due to climatological or meteorological conditions. Extensive use of visualization is adopted as a means of contributing to the understanding of energy use, some involved problems and concepts, and energy consumption trends over time. We present an approach that addresses the informatics challenges based on the integration of visualization software, data integration, and cluster analysis. Our cross-sectional energy review advocates that EU energy leaders are moving towards a low-carbon economy. The correlations of energy variables with economic and pollution effects are stronger in greater levels of energy use, which means that energy use has an obvious impact on economic growth and the environment. Visual and automated methods employed for the analysis, reveal the direction, the strength, and the nature of the dependence structure, in clusters covering the range of energy use in EU 28 countries.

Regional Corruption, Urbanization, and Smokeless Development: An Empirical Study from China

Economic development is not only about quantity, but also about quality, so it’s important to regulate the tobacco, and make the development in a low carbon and smokeless way. Relying on the Chinese city-level dynamic panel data of 2005–2018 and using GMM estimation, this study founded that corruption aggravates carbon emission as well as the pollution effects of urbanization. When the environmental effect of corruption via urbanization is controlled, urbanization can reduce carbon emissions. Furthermore, the inverted U-shaped relationship between urbanization and carbon emission exists with turning point at 3.60, that means when the corruption level is below (above) 3.60, urbanization can improve (aggravate) environmental quality. The results also suggested that urbanization improved environmental quality in 32 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, while in others, it aggravated environmental pollution. Namely that urbanization can improve the local environmental quality only when the corruption level is low; otherwise, it would aggravate the local environmental pollution. By calculating the average corruption level for different city administrative level—above prefecture-level cities, prefecture-level cities, and county-level cities—the values of which were estimated as 3.48, 3.82, and 4.02 respectively, we also founded that urbanization has improved environmental quality only in the above prefecture-level cities, while in the other cities, urbanization has aggravated the local environmental pollution.

Environmental Pollution Effects of Regional Industrial Transfer Illustrated with Jiangsu, China

Industrial transfer is reshaping the geographic layout of industries and facilitating the transfer and spread of environmental pollution. This study employs the pollution transfer estimation method to discuss the environmental effect of industrial transfer. By compiling statistics on industries of a certain scale according to time-series data, the researchers compute the pollution load generated by industrial transfer and the difference in pollution emissions for each region and industry. Through the constructed evaluation model, the empirical scope is Jiangsu, which is the most developed industry in China. The results reveal that there is an apparent spatial hierarchy among the transferred industries in Jiangsu. Most industries transfer from the southern Jiangsu region toward the central Jiangsu and northern Jiangsu regions. Environmental pollution is redistributed among prefecture-level cities because of intercity industrial transfer; the spatial characteristics of pollution exhibit a notable hierarchical pattern. Furthermore, the transferred pollution load differs considerably between industries. The textile industry and chemical raw material and chemical product industry are mainly transferred toward the Central Jiangsu and Northern Jiangsu regions, whereas the papermaking and paper product manufacturing industry is primarily redistributed to the Southern Jiangsu region. The empirical results can serve as a reference for analyzing the environmental pollution effects of regional industrial transfer.

What are the main challenges facing the sustainable development of China’s Yangtze economic belt in the future? An integrated view

Interactions among human and natural systems are fundamental to many issues facing today’s sustainable development. Yangtze Economic Belt (hereafter Belt), one of the most dynamic regions in China, is of no exception. The economic prosperity of the Belt, however, comes at the price of ecological and environmental degradation, which poses severe challenges to its sustainable development. This paper describes the application of the ANEMI_Yangtze system dynamics model, aiming at identifying the main challenges facing the Belt and the potential way out towards its sustainable development. Three scenarios are proposed to (i) explore the potential impacts of climate change; (ii) examine how changes in birth control policy affect population dynamics and the natural-environmental systems; and (iii) investigate how policies aimed at improving the eco-environment conditions affect the Belt. Results show that a moderate rise in temperature is beneficial to the Belt’s economy and energy-food-water systems, but further temperature rise is harmful. Population in the Belt peaks around 2030, 2080, and 2100 under one-child, two-child, and three-child policies, respectively. Suppose no major changes in economic, technological, and policy developments are introduced. In that case, the Belt may face a serious energy deficit ranging from 10 to 17 billion tce. A food self-sufficiency ratio will fall from around 0.7 to 0.39 by 2100 as the country’s birth control policy loosens. Water scarcity occurs if surface water is considered as the only supply and this situation becomes even more serious when water pollution effects are considered. However, water stress will be greatly allievated if groundwater and wastewater reuse are introduced. The policy of increasing nutrient removal efficiency can save million lives. Finally, our results also suggest that the recently introduced 10-year fishing ban policy can not prevent the Yangtze fish stock from depletion in the long run.