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Environmental problems such as CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide) emissions have seriously affected the development of the steel industry, which has urged the industry to adopt a more effective emission reduction policy. This paper aims to analyze the impact of various CO₂ emission reduction policies combinations on the economic benefits and environmental changes of the steel industry and to determine the scope of application.

To compare the impact and applicable implementation conditions, a production decision game model that incorporates these two policies has been constructed. Short-, medium- and long-term constraints are set on the emission reduction indicators and the indicators’ changes under various scenarios are compared.

In the case of a single emission reduction policy, the carbon trading (CT) mechanism is better than the carbon tax mechanism. The mixed carbon trading mechanism is superior to the mixed carbon tax mechanism in terms of total output and subsidies, but worse in terms of overall social welfare, producer surplus and macro losses.

This paper constructs multiple emission reduction and production backgrounds and discusses the impact of the comprehensive implementation of these policies, which is practically absent in previous studies. It is in line with the current industrial policy for stable production and environmental protection and also provides a reference for the formulation of detailed policies in the future.

In view of current climate change policies, this study aims to provide researchers, regulators, and business practice with the current picture of practices regarding carbon-related compensation granted to chief executive officers (CEO). To this end, it examines whether and to what extent European companies translate their carbon reduction strategies into carbon targets underlying their CEOs’ short-term and long-term compensation, what characteristics the carbon targets used commonly have in terms of their quality and time frame, and whether the carbon targets used differ among carbon-intensive, and less carbon-intensive companies.

Drawing on the stakeholder-agency theoretical perspective, this study explores the patterns of use and characteristics of carbon-related targets in CEO compensation. In this vein, a content analysis of corporate disclosure for the business years 2018 and 2019 is conducted for a European sample of 65 large listed companies from 16 countries and 11 industries.

The findings of this study show that albeit the trend toward new adoption, carbon-related CEO compensation systems are still uncommon. The results also reveal that carbon targets are mainly used to determine short-term compensation. Further, the findings highlight that carbon-related CEO compensation is almost equally widespread among carbon-intensive and less carbon-intensive companies. However, in terms of target quality, the study shows that carbon-intensive companies display greater heterogeneity and opacity.

By analyzing the characteristics of carbon targets and the prevalence of carbon-related CEO compensation for the first time, this study contributes to the stakeholder-agency theoretical perspective on corporate governance. In view of the European Green Deal and climate-related stakeholder demands, regulators and business practice are encouraged to recognize that carbon-related CEO compensation should gain momentum and the disclosure on this matter should become more transparent and comparable among companies and across industries.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between the quality and volume of carbon emission disclosures (CED) in UK higher educational institutions (HEIs), with an emphasis on the impact of the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) carbon reduction target on such disclosures.

Based on stewardship theory, this study explores the decision usefulness of the CED by HEIs, i.e. whether a larger volume of CED means that it is more useful to readers and stakeholders. A framework was developed to measure the CED quality. The relationships between CED volume and quality were examined using the ordered probit regression model.

CED volume in annual reports and HEFCE carbon reduction target were found to have a significant positive impact on CED quality. There exists a void in research with carbon disclosures by HEIs, an area which has been widely researched with regard to profit-seeking organisations. The study adds to the earlier related studies by its contribution about HEIs to the disclosure literature.

The study is distinct in investigating the relationship between volume and quality of CED by HEIs. However, the impact of CED would need to be clear to motivate the HEIs to engage in such disclosure. Thus, future studies should investigate the impact of both volume and quality of CED on reputation.

The study recognises that the characteristics of HEIs are distinct from profit-seeking organisations, which have been widely researched in literature. Generalising the research studies on profit-oriented companies for the most publicly funded UK HEIs may mislead any outcome. This study is distinct from the reader’s point of view in exploring whether more CED is more useful in better decision-making.

In this paper, the international progress of Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs), Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are reviewed. The content of Taiwan’s NAMAs and INDCs are also investigated, especially with reference to actions for the electricity sector. To better understand the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction contribution from the electricity sector, this paper aims to examine challenges and solutions for implementing a carbon trading mechanism in Taiwan’s monopolistic electricity market under the newly passed Greenhouse Gases Emissions Reduction and Management Act (GHG ERMA).

Carbon reduction strategies for the electricity sector are discussed by examining and explaining Taiwan’s official documents and the law of GHG ERMA.

This study finds that market mechanisms should be utilized to allocate appropriate costs and incentives for GHG reductions to transform Taiwan into a low-carbon society.

This study identifies strategies for the electricity sector to reduce GHG emissions, especially the operation of a carbon-trading scheme under a non-liberalized electricity market.

Carbon reduction in the construction industry is related to the achievement of carbon emission peaks and carbon neutrality targets. Therefore, exploring the influence of current carbon reduction policies on the construction industry is necessary. China’s low-carbon pilot (LCP) policy has been extensively studied, while LCPs mechanism and effectiveness on carbon reduction in the construction industry remain to be explored.

This study selected four provincial LCP regions as case studies and adopted the grounded theory method for case studies to analyze the implementation mechanism of the LCP policy on carbon reduction in the construction industry. Then, this study adopted the propensity score matching and difference-in-differences regression (PSM-DID) approach to evaluate the influence of the LCP policy on carbon intensity (CI) in the construction industry by using panel data taken from 30 provinces in China between 2008 and 2017.

The authors found that (1) the LCP policy promotes carbon reduction in the construction industry through the crossing implementation mechanism of five vertical support approaches and five horizontal support approaches. (2). The LCP policy can significantly reduce CI in the construction industry.

The study not only explored how is the LCP policy implemented, but also examined the effectiveness of the LCP policy in the construction industry. The policy implications of this study can help policy-makers better achieve low-carbon development targets in the construction industry.

This study aims to examine the various climate change practices adopted by firms and develop a set of corporate indexes that measure the level of climate change corporate commitment, climate change risk management integration and climate change strategies adoption. Moreover, this study examines the relationship between the aforementioned indexes. The authors claim that there is a positive relationship between the adoption of climate change strategies, corporate commitment and risk management integration. The aforementioned indexes have been used to assess the largest companies in the oil and gas sectors.

To assess this study’s sample companies, a content analysis of their carbon disclosure project (CDP) reports for the years 2012-2015 was conducted. Finally, weights were assigned to the content analysis data based on the results of a survey regarding the difficulty of implementing each climate change practice included in the respective index. The survey sample included climate change experts who are either currently employed in companies that are included in the Financial Times Global 500 (FT 500) list, or work as external partners with these companies.

The present study results highlight the need for developing elaborate corporate indexes, as the various climate change practices have different degrees of difficulty regarding their implementation. Additionally, a general trend in adopting climate change strategies is observed, especially in the field of carbon reduction strategies, which mainly involve the implementation of low carbon technologies. Finally, a positive and significant relationship was found between carbon reduction targets, risk management integration and climate change strategies.

Although international research has extensively examined the importance of managers’ perceptions on environmental issues as an enabling factor in developing environmental strategies, according to the results of our survey, corporations must go beyond top management commitment towards climate change to be able to successfully implement climate change strategies. Incorporation of climate change risk management procedures into a company’s core business activities as well as the establishment of precise carbon reduction targets can provide the basis on which successful climate change strategies are implemented.

Most studies address the issue of climate change management in terms of environmental or sustainability management. Furthermore, research on climate change and its relationship with business management is mainly theoretical, and climate change corporate performance is measured with aggregate indexes. This study focuses on climate change which is examined from a five-dimensional perspective: top management commitment, carbon reduction targets, risk management integration, carbon reduction and carbon compensation strategies. This allows us to conduct an in-depth analysis of the various climate change practices of firms.

There are certain differences in the production products of enterprises. What are the impacts of product differentiation on the iron and steel industry? Based on the macro background of CO₂ emission reduction, this paper aims to analyze the economic benefits and environmental changes of the iron and steel industry under the dual influence of CO₂ emission reduction policy and product differentiation policy.

Taking the basic data of iron and steel industry in six regions of China as an example, this paper constructed an extended two-stage dynamic game model to analyze the impact of product differentiation and carbon tax policy on the production, economic indicators and CO₂ emission levels for the overall industry and regional enterprises.

As the CO₂ emission reduction target increased, the unit carbon tax and total tax increased, whereas the macro-environmental losses, social welfare, consumer surplus and outputs decrease. Emission reduction pressures and other economic indicators showed obvious regional differences. Differentiated products promoted various indicators of enterprises and industries; higher degrees of product differentiation resulted in greater promoting effects on economic indicators.

This paper constructed multiple emission reduction and production backgrounds, and discusses the impact of the comprehensive implementation of these policies, which has been practically absent in previous studies. The results of this study are consistent with the current industrial policy for stable production and environmental protection, and also provides a reference for the formulation of detailed policies in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a tool (the Climate Challenge Tool) that allows house builders to calculate whole life carbon equivalent emissions and costs of various carbon and energy reduction options that can be incorporated into the design of new developments.

The tool covers technical and soft (or lifestyle) measures for reducing carbon production and energy use. Energy used within the home, energy embodied in the building materials, and emissions generated through transport, food consumption and waste treatment are taken into account. The tool has been used to assess the potential and cost‐effectiveness of various carbon reduction options for a proposed new housing development in Cambridgeshire. These are compared with carbon emissions from a typical UK household.

The tool demonstrated that carbon emission reductions can be achieved at much lower costs through an approach which enables sustainable lifestyles than through an approach which focuses purely on reducing heat lost through the fabric of the building and from improving the heating and lighting systems.

The tool will enable house builders to evaluate which are the most cost‐effective measures that they can incorporate into the design of new developments in order to achieve the significant energy savings and reduction in carbon emissions necessary to meet UK Government targets and to avoid dangerous climate change.

Current approaches to assessing carbon and energy reduction options for new housing developments concentrate on energy efficiency options such as reducing heat lost through the fabric of the building and improving the heating and lighting systems, alongside renewable energy systems. The Climate Challenge Tool expands the range of options that might be considered by developers to include those affecting lifestyle choices of future residents.

A carbon tax has been widely discussed and implemented in developed countries to mitigate carbon emissions, but this measure is still quite new in developing countries. Recently, the ambition of Vietnam's government in mitigating emissions has been mentioned in international commitments. To achieve these targets, the government is making efforts to seek and implement mitigation measures in the country. While carbon pricing was introduced in Vietnam, there is no study simulating the effects of a carbon tax in the country. This study simulates the environmental and economic effects of a carbon tax and then proposes appropriate policies in Vietnam.

This study investigates the impact on the Vietnamese economy within the static computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework. Compared with previous models, the proposed model in this paper is a fairly standard CGE approach that tries to picture the economic system of Vietnam. In addition, a carbon tax on output will be modeled in this framework. This carbon tax mechanism is more flexible and direct when a carbon tax is based on direct emissions by industry level and the industry's carbon intensity. The paper decomposes the Vietnamese economy into 18 different production sectors, based on the different emission levels of CO₂. The CGE model makes possible to examine the impact of a carbon tax on the whole economy through all possible channels and to differentiate a separate carbon tax among different production sectors. The impact of a differentiated carbon tax is explored not only at the macroeconomic level but also at each different industrial level. Another feature of this paper is to investigate the impact of reallocation revenue from the carbon tax.

This paper has found that by designing carbon tax scenarios at different carbon prices ($1/tCO2, $5/tCO2, $10/tCO2) with different targeted industries, this study shows that higher carbon prices cause greater damage to GDP and welfare, but also better reductions in emissions. In addition, a carbon tax on the energy sectors results in milder economic and welfare damage but less emission reduction than when levying on all sectors. At the sectoral level, a carbon tax might cause sectoral restruction. Interestingly, the electricity sector is the most affected and also is the main contributor to reducing emissions in Vietnam. Finally, the study also shows that reallocation policies of new revenue from the carbon tax would reduce the economic damage caused by carbon taxes, and in many cases promote GDP and welfare. However, these policies reduce the environmentally positive impact of the carbon tax and even induce an increase in emissions in some cases.

This paper studies the pure impacts of a carbon tax, it also simulates the impact of several recycling policies where the increased tax revenue is incorporated. Thereby, this research supports to design and implement carbon tax policies in Vietnam. This paper also would contribute to the literature an example of the adoption of the carbon tax in a developing country, and it could be a lesson for others with similar conditions. Compared with previous models, the proposed model in this paper is a fairly standard CGE approach that tries to picture the economic system of Vietnam. In addition, a more flexible carbon tax mechanism is proposed to improve adequate coverage of emission resources.

This paper aims to empirically investigate the impact of the carbon intensity constraint policy (CICP) on green innovation.

This study takes the implementation of the CICP as a quasi-natural experiment and uses a quasi–difference-in-difference method to investigate the impact of the CICP on firm green innovation from a microeconomic perspective.

The CICP significantly limits the quality of firms’ green innovation. Among the range of green patents, the CICP distorts only patents related to CO₂ emissions. The inhibitory effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises and heavily polluting firms. R&D investment and green investor are identified as the main mechanism.

These findings provide evidence for the influence of the CICP on firm green innovation, which can guide policymakers in China and other emerging economies that prioritize carbon intensity constraint targets and the improvement of relevant auxiliary measures.

Governments and firms should have a comprehensive understanding of environmental policies and corporate behavior and need to mitigate the negative impact through a combination of measures.

This study contributes to the literature by providing additional empirical evidence regarding the two opposing sides of the ongoing debate on the positive or negative effects of CICP. It also provides new evidence on the policy effect of the CICP on firm green innovation, together with its mechanisms and heterogeneous influences.