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In the backdrop of growing global concern on escalating CO₂ emission leading to climate disorder and controversy between economic growth and environment, this study undertakes a decomposition analysis of the top 20 emitters of the world during 1992–2016 with two objectives: to identify the relative contribution of the major driving factors in CO₂ emission and to comprehend the role and performance of sectoral energy consumption pattern in changing the emission level.

The paper uses variance analysis method to perform two stage decomposition: first, it decomposes emission into the major driving factors, and, secondly, it also decomposes fossil fuel intensity of different sectors into fuel mix and energy intensity effects, which are new in the literature.

The results indicate that aggressive pursuit for economic growth, particularly by developing countries, is the major reason behind unprecedented emission growth, with income effect, fossil fuel intensity effect and population effect having substantial roles. Considerable decline in dependence on fossil fuel, coupled with rising emissions, signifies that emission intensity is still to be harnessed. Sectoral decomposition shows that while fossil fuel intensity has declined in residential sector, it has remarkably shot up in industry, transport and commercial sectors. On the other hand, sectoral energy intensity has declined, particularly due to favourable performances of transport and commercial sectors.

The detailed country-wise sectoral analysis identifies the sectors with favourable contribution in curtailing emission and lends a direction to other countries for policy making.

This study contributes by incorporating multi-country sectoral segregation in decomposition analysis. It focuses not only on energy intensity, but on the effect of energy substitution in each sector as well. It identifies the sectors that have lowered their dependence on fossil fuel to highlight that emission can effectively be dealt with through a prudent choice of fuel mix.

This paper aims to examine the complex issue of the social cost of carbon. The authors review the existing literature and the strengths and deficiencies of existing approaches. They introduce a simple methodology that estimates the amount of “legal looting” in the fossil fuel industry as an alternative approach to calculate an unpaid social cost of carbon. The “looting amount” can be defined as society’s failure to charge fossil fuel firms for the damage that their activities cause represents an implied subsidy.

The methodology used in this paper combines decisions in the form of policymakers setting carbon taxes and rational investors investing in carbon emission markets.

The authors show that the unpaid social cost of carbon in the fossil fuel industry was US$12.7tn over 1995-2013, but may be as high as US$115.5tn.

Over the same period, the sum of industry profits, emission trading scheme carbon permit and carbon tax revenue totalled US$7tn, indicating the industry would not be viable if it was made to pay for damages to society.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the scope of applications and benefits of sustainability accounting for the production and industrial use of biomass as an energy source and substitute for fossil‐fuel use. As environmental degradation and unacceptable social impacts not only increase from the production and use of fossil‐fuel based energy, but also from alternative energy sources, the monitoring, controlling and measuring of the (un‐)sustainability of alternative energy production and use emerges as an area in critical need of research.

The paper presents a review of the issues surrounding the accounting for the (un‐)sustainability of industrial biomass production and use, considering what biomass is, the current and forecast importance of industrial biomass, different approaches to its production, and the subsequent measurement and monitoring of its potential (un‐)sustainability.

The paper finds that it is insufficient to conclude in general terms, as is often done or assumed in policy documents and statements, that industrial production and use of biomass is sustainable (or unsustainable) and that accounting for biomass must recognise the broader ecological and social system of which the production and use form a part. A further finding of the paper is that from agricultural or industrial production of biomass through to consumption and industrial use of biomass, the accounting issues surrounding biomass production and use are essential to determining its (un‐)sustainability.

The paper provides an overview of the importance of and problems with the production of biomass for industrial use, and related sustainability issues. It discusses possibilities for and limitations of accounting to address these sustainability issues as well as the need for and the challenges in measuring the (un‐)sustainability of biomass production for industrial use and the accounting for sustainability improvements.

In recognition of the urgency of the global need to reduce CO₂ emissions from the electricity sector, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the cost‐effectiveness of nuclear power and fossil‐fuel‐based power with and without the provision of carbon capture and storage in select, yet environmentally‐significant, group of countries – China, India, Russia, Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Argentina, Bulgaria and Romania.

The analyses are based on comparisons of electricity generation costs for nuclear and fossil‐fuel technologies. These costs, expressed in present value terms, are estimated on the basis of life‐cycle costs, employing detailed country‐specific technological and economic data and assumptions.

The analyses suggest that that the provision of carbon capture and storage is likely to result in a significant increase in the cost of electricity produced from fossil fuels (principally coal) in all countries represented in this paper. Such increase would completely erode the existing cost advantage enjoyed by fossil‐fuel power (in relation to nuclear power) in some countries (Argentina, Bulgaria, China, and India) and considerably enhance the existing cost‐advantage of nuclear power in other countries (Korea, Pakistan, Poland, Romania, and Russia).

Notwithstanding these limitations, the findings of this paper contribute appreciably to the emerging knowledge on this topic and provide useful foresight into the likely challenges of developing internationally acceptable policy prescriptions for mitigation CO₂ emissions from the electricity sector. At a mundane, yet important, level, this paper establishes a platform on which further analyses could be built.

This research uses the social science perspectives of institutions, ecological modernization and social movements to analyze the rationale used by the early-adopting universities of fossil fuel divestment in the USA.

Through analysis of qualitative data from interviews with key actors at the universities that divested their endowments from fossil fuels, the paper examines how institutions navigate competing logics and frame their rationale.

The results show that while many institutions relied on ecological values embedded in their missions to justify their decision to divest, many also continued to embrace an altered version of market logic.

This research is primarily limited by its small population size. If the number of adoptees increases in the future, quantitative analysis should look for statistically robust trends.

The implications of this research are that we can expect more universities to commit to divesting from fossil fuels if their mission statements provide them with cultural material to rationalize the decision, but also expect them to couch the decision in continued goals and concerns for fiduciary responsibility and the subsequent growth of their endowment.

Social actors engaged in the fossil fuel divestment campaign may take this research and conclude that they need to build their arguments around the existing institutional logics and cultural identity.

This paper contributes original primary data documenting how institutional actors confront dominant logics using both a mixture of internal cultural identity and the reframing of the legitimated market logics.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

The fossil fuel industry could gain significant competitive advantage if it embraces green innovation as a strategy.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Scenario planning is a useful approach that helps policymakers to better understand the complexity and uncertainties that lie in the future and to choose the right policy mix to support the development of renewable and affordable energy sources. In this regard, this paper aims to present renewable energy (RE) development scenarios in Iran in the horizon of 2030.

Following the intuitive logic school and the Global Business Network model, the authors identified seven driving forces, according to the expert’s judgment, by brainstorming techniques which influence REs development in the horizon of 2030. By prioritizing driving forces based on their importance and uncertainty, “sustainable and green economy” and “emerging technology development” are the most instrumental uncertainties and the authors formed a two-axis scenario matrix with each representing an axis.

The results suggest four main scenarios of “Transition to Sustainability with Green Gold,” “Towards Sustainability with Green Gold,” “Productivity with Black Gold” and “Desperation with Black Gold.” They include a wide range of possible situations of energy basket in the future ranging from dominance of fossil fuels to dominance of REs. The “Productivity with Black Gold” and the “Towards Sustainability with Green Gold” are the most probable scenarios of RE development by 2030 in Iran.

This paper indicates that the dominance of oil and gas resources would impede or at least slow down the development of renewable and affordable energy sources. Although the economic and environmental potentials and the inevitability of REs are well-understood, path dependence created by fossil fuels in Iran’s energy regime, either partially or fully, hinders the widespread development of REs which is the case in other resource-based countries as well.

The study examines the diversity of ethical motivations for investments in fossil fuels amid growing calls to decarbonize. Faced with the dilemma between energy needs and net-zero commitments, managers need to reconcile seemingly irreconcilable external pressures. The purpose is to provide insights into the ethics justifying their investment decisions.

The authors draw on ethnographic research, participant observation and interviews with oil and gas executives, private equity partners, managing directors, bankers, lawyers, consultants and engineers in the US and the UK.

The findings show how managers in the oil and gas ecosystem motivate their actions in response to external pressures for decarbonization. The leitmotif is that they do the right thing even if they acknowledge that not all stakeholders agree. The findings provide insights into why net-zero pledges have failed to stem the flow of capital into fossil fuels.

The authors propose a nuanced engagement with stakeholders that goes beyond risk-return calculations on investments in hydrocarbons. Recognizing the diversity of ethical perspectives, money managers have the opportunity to engage institutional constituents as owners of the collective pools of capital rather than just as beneficiaries in making investment decisions.

Money managers should be more engaged with stakeholders whose well-being depends on the funds' investments. They could facilitate the creation of partnerships with public and private organizations such as banks, national funds, city governments, pension funds, foundations, universities and religious organizations. It would be beneficial to all stakeholders to understand the nuanced and varied ethical frameworks that inform hydrocarbon investment and divestment decisions.

The article uses timely in-depth interview data on an issue of existential importance. The authors contribute a better understanding of how and why institutional investor capital is flowing into hydrocarbons at a time when calls to divest are louder than ever.

In the Rio Grande Valley, natural gas corporations have proposed building up to five export terminals for shipping to overseas locations liquefied natural gas (LNG). The LNG terminals constructed would have adverse consequences for the people living in the area. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the conflict between citizen groups and corporations.

Using a narrative approach, theories by Boje, Debord, Bauman and Best and Kellner, the paper analyzes and tests the strategies and resources and stories utilized by proponents and opponents of the LNG terminals in the Port of Brownsville. Examined are internet media as artifacts for the analysis, in addition to an evaluation of political protests and demonstrations.

Corporate globalization may be halted because of resistance put forth by local opponents – citizen and environmental groups – offering resistance due to perceptions that the local economy and environment may be severely damaged.

LNG corporate expansion continues globally. The research provides a glimpse into one how one locality may resist capitalist domination, protecting its own economy and environment.

The assessment provides a practical means to examine how local resistance may successfully avert unwanted fossil fuel industries.

Local citizens’ groups may have the means necessary to stop the LNG terminals from locating in the Rio Grande Valley; however, capitalist globalization may be too much of an irresistible force to overcome.

This research paper demonstrates the conflict inherent to globalization through the economic and environmental consequences that occur when citizen groups oppose corporate fossil fuel expansion into their community.

The information technology (IT) sector is a powerful factor in present-day society, and its role in pro-sustainability policies is crucial. This study aims to gain insight into IT students' perspectives on the role of education for sustainable development (ESD) in their academic curriculum as well as to project their attitudes and actions to prospective employers.

This study used a cross-sectional survey design, involving 260 students majoring in IT at a public university in Bulgaria.

The majority of the students (67.30%) believed that their university education should promote students’ social and environmental skills. However, 55–65% thought that the current academic curriculum failed to connect subject matter with relevant environmental issues. The students held high expectations of prospective employers. There was a significant concordance between the participants' views on sustainability and their perceived workplace actions. The participants who believed that employers should reduce carbon emissions were significantly more likely to refuse to do any work that supports the fossil fuel industry [odds ratio (OR) = 4.82, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.04–11.37] or leave a job if the company provides products or services for the fossil fuel industry (OR = 3.10, 95% CI: 1.26–7.26). Such participants were more likely to opt for a lower salary in favor of environmental principles (OR = 2.38, 95% CI: 1.32–4.28).

The IT sector is a powerful factor in present-day society, and its role in pro-sustainability policies is crucial. IT students’ perspectives on the gaps in current sustainability practices convey a message to the IT academic and employment communities that environmental issues matter and are important to this new generation of technologically savvy people.

There have been a few other studies in Bulgaria on the issue of ESD, but no other study has focused on the projection of students' attitudes toward the environment onto future employers. The study's results showed that the Bulgarian young people who were getting ready for jobs in the IT field had the same environmental values and concerns as their peers from different higher education areas in different parts of the world. They were interested in acquiring knowledge and competencies that would help propel pro-environmental actions in their academic institution and future workplace. Notwithstanding the overall low economic standards in their country, they tended to put carbon-free and environmentally friendly policies ahead of financial interests. Their critical perspectives on the gaps in current sustainability practices convey a message to the academic and job communities in IT that environmental issues matter to this new generation of technologically savvy people.