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International business, environmental issues along with economic growth are the three of the most important aspects of development economics. One cannot deny the fact that a nation, in modern globalized world, cannot achieve high growth without getting into trade with rest of the world as well as without hurting the environment. Nations should not forget the fact that we are in the process of achieving Sustainable Development Goals which we have imposed upon ourselves for the sake of a safe world. BRICS nations are five such nations which not only account for more than 30% of the world's output but also have around 41% population. These features coupled with high growth rates of these nations make them the emerging economies with high chances to dominate the world economy in nearing decades. In this study, by the help of simultaneous equation model and panel data analysis, we have seen how far these three important issues are influenced by one another and related variables in these five nations. We have found that both gross domestic product (GDP) and trade-related variables have been influential upon one another. But these variables getting influenced by emission as well as influencing emission are areas of worries. Good economic growth coupled with safe environment in a globalized world is what we desire for which BRICS economies need to implement certain policies that would ensure their dominance in the world economy and save the environment.

Climate change is a bitter truth for the entire humanity, and it vehemently calls for thoughtful means for environmental protection along with sustainable economic growth. International trade blocs fundamentally represent amalgamation of countries to achieve unified goals like higher living standards, reduced trade barriers, freer labour mobility across member states, social and cultural upliftment, political allegiance to regional association, etc. Throughout the 1990s, these trade blocs have committed to reducing environmental pressures and shifting towards cleaner forms of energy. This chapter examines the relationship between rate of change in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions per capita and rate of change in per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in linear, quadratic and cubic polynomial forms with the other control variables like inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI), export of goods and services, population density, urban population percentage and location dummies for the 66 countries falling in seven regional trade blocs. Other than the European Union and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the remaining five trade blocs in the study – Association of South-East Nations (ASEAN), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), Common Market for Eastern and South Africa (COMESA), Mercado Común del Sur (MERCOSUR) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – contain mostly the developing and some of the fastest growing economies of the world. The panel regression result finds an inverse relationship between rate of change in per capita CO₂ emissions and rate of change in GDP per capita (in linear and cubic polynomial forms), exports and population density, while the other coefficients of the explanatory variables are positive. The study also establishes an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) which is opposite to N-shape during 2005–2019, and that contradicts with the original EKC of inverted U-shaped. However, this shape admits the collective efforts of region-specific trade blocs towards achieving clean environment which is one of the important global goals.

The current study aims to analyze the role of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) in sustainability issues and its impact on the attitude of practitioners (auditors) in industrial companies. The current study relies on the analytical method, one of the tools of the inductive approach, by examining the literature of researchers, international and local organizations, publications, series, alerts, and topics dealt with by the IFAC, as well as reviewing studies, theoretical and applied research, periodicals, books, and statistics. And specialized publications for this subject, which is related to other sciences – such as – environmental science, economic, and political sciences. The study reached many results, the most important of which are: (1) The first half of the current decade has seen high interest from the IFAC, has led to the issuance of International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) international standard on assurance engagements 3410, (GHG) Statements. (2) Sustainability has become important to a growing number of enterprises, and may have a significant influence, in certain cases, the financial statements, also became the sustainability of the topics under increasing attention from users of financial statements. Thus, the financial statements will need a practitioner to take into consideration sustainability issues and a private greenhouse gas when auditing the financial statements. This study is distinguished by analyzing the role of the IFAC and the IAASB for the period from 1998 to 2023 regarding sustainability issues.

Road transport is an important sector of the economy, however, its negative impacts on the environment, human health and sustainability of potential economic growth are significant. Transport externalities tend to be neglected within the market process. The damage generated through significant externalities of road transport in Czechia was identified, based on unique data processing, to reach almost 3.5 billion € annually. This chapter presents an overview of internalization taxes and fees, their current rates and generated receipts. If excise duty is disregarded as fundamentally unsuitable for the internalization of externalities, then the receipts from other applied taxes and fees, particularly the road tax, seem to be insufficient. Although economic growth is encouraged, its form is not sustainable in view of the rising phase of the Kuznets curve and the related irreversible environmental impacts.

This study aims at investigating the effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate social irresponsibility (CSI) on corporate financial performance (CFP) in firms headquartered in developed versus emerging countries. Drawing upon stakeholder and legitimacy perspectives, the authors argue that the CSR/CSI–CFP relationship differs depending on the home-countries’ level of economic development as this reflects their different sensitivity to sustainability. Indeed, as emerging economies are normally characterized by weaker regulations, they are likely to place lower pressures on companies for superior CSR practices. Therefore, the authors expect the effect of CSR on CFP to be more positive for firms headquartered in advanced than in emerging countries. At the same time, the authors propose a more negative relationship between CSI and CFP for firms headquartered in developed countries due to the higher overall sustainability expectations required to gain legitimacy. The empirical analyses, run on a sample of 1,971 publicly listed firms between 2010 and 2020 from developed and emerging economies, support the expectations, thus confirming that country-specific contextual factors do play a role in shaping both the positive and the negative impact of CSR and CSI on CFP, and that the reactions of stakeholders to responsible and irresponsible behavior are stronger when their sensitivity to sustainability is higher.

Introduction: This study investigates the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the sustainability of the supply chain. It investigates how modern supply networks and procedures were equipped for such a catastrophe, and the pandemic’s effects on the environment, highlighting the significance of studying resilience and sustainability concurrently.

Purpose: The study acknowledges the importance of environmental sustainability for businesses and the need to examine trends in organisational, customer, policy, and distribution networks.

Need for the Study: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted supply chains. This study aims to provide insight into the long-term repercussions of the crisis and the importance of incorporating environmental considerations.

Methodology: The study uses a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on supply networks and environmental sustainability indices. Data from industry reports, governmental publications, polls, and qualitative research techniques have been gathered.

Findings: The results of this study advance our understanding of how to preserve supply chains in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights the need for enhanced resilience and sustainability measures, expose the flaws and weaknesses of contemporary supply networks, and uncover developing patterns and tactics in customer behaviour, policy frameworks, distribution networks, and supply chain management.

Practical Implications: The COVID-19 pandemic has provided businesses, decision makers, and researchers with guidance on handling its potential and challenges – increasing the supply chain’s resistance to future interruptions, incorporating environmentally friendly practises, developing policies to support resilient and sustainable supply chains, adapting to changing consumer tastes, increasing effectiveness, and minimising the environmental impact of distribution networks.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has gained great attention among regulators, stock market authorities, and firms' stakeholders for many decades. In this chapter, we first review the main regulations, standards, and laws issued by UAE federal authorities namely the Company Commercial Law of 2015, the Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange (ADX) disclosure guidance of 2019, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, and UAE CSR platform. Second, we present a summary of the empirical research on CSR issues in UAE context, namely in the following four fields: (1) CSR determinants both at the micro and macro levels, (2) CSR measures in the three pillars (environmental, social, and governance), (3) the impact of CSR policy and practices on financial performance/market value, (4) and the role of some mediating/moderating variables such as leadership and board gender diversity. Results show greater compliance to CSR standards among different industries and institutions but heterogenous empirical findings in the four explored fields. While there is crucial alignment with both social and environmental standards as evidenced by numerous empirical studies, additional efforts should be deployed to highlight the governance pillar through firms' discretionary reporting. Our survey provides useful directives and outcomes as it portrays both legal aspects coupled with some empirical evidence of CSR issues in the UAE context. Our study helps corporations to comply with local standards on sustainability reporting and highlights the potential economic benefits and advantages for firms adopting CSR strategy. Furthermore, it can be considered as the cornerstone for regulatory bodies in the United Arab Emirates when issuing/enhancing new standards/rules on CSR practices.

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) own and control technological resources and capabilities that make them critical actors in accelerating the transition toward net zero. Even beyond the energy sector, stakeholders are putting increasing pressure on MNEs to reduce the carbon intensity of their operations, that is, to improve their carbon performance. While there is unambiguous evidence that national climate policy is a critical catalyst for long-term carbon performance improvements, there is limited research on how MNEs’ carbon strategies react to climate policies. This chapter reviews the concepts, drivers, and strategies connected to carbon performance in the broader sustainability and management literature to clarify potential complementarities to international business (IB). The authors then highlight how MNEs will face increasing institutional complexity along two dimensions: (1) the structural diversity of institutional environments and (2) institutional dynamism, primarily reflected by public policy. The proposed conceptual framework maps these two dimensions to national and subnational levels, and the authors present two data sources that allow the quantitative analysis of country differences in the diversity and dynamism of national climate policy. The authors conclude that there are ample opportunities for IB researchers to explore MNEs’ strategic reactions to climate policy and to inform policymakers about the consequences of national climate policy in the global economy.

Introduction: The effect of environmental regulations or green policies on the financial health of businesses is still up for debate. The Prime Minister of India presented a bold plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070 at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow (UK). Following this announcement, numerous Indian companies voluntarily committed to becoming carbon neutral to support the ambitious emission reduction targets. A growing body of research examines the link between environmental standards compliance and businesses’ sustainability measures, and how they affect their overall performance (profitability, stock returns, or output generation).

Purpose: The research assesses the effect of these voluntary announcements on the stock performance of Indian companies in the context of voluntary commitments to reduce carbon emissions.

Methodology: Concentrating on the announcement impact of carbon neutrality commitments/carbon emissions reductions of 52 Indian companies, the study considers carbon neutrality pledges/carbon emissions reduction from 2018 to 2022. The sample companies list was taken from various indices on the National Stock Exchange. A standard event study methodology is applied to compute abnormal returns during the event window of (−10, 10).

Findings: The results show that companies announcing the carbon neutrality pledges/carbon emissions reduction received significantly negative abnormal returns of 0.49% on announcement day. The cumulative average abnormal returns for different windows are also negative. It signifies that investors don’t value the environmentally sustainable actions of firms. It may also be because of investors’ ignorance of carbon neutrality pledges and their importance, highlighting the need to educate investors about the significance of corporate sustainability initiatives.