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The authors examine the effect of greenhouse gas (ghg) assurance on cost of debt, and the effect of board gender diversity on cost of debt, for an international sample of listed companies.

Utilizing firm-level data and a quantile regression approach, this study examines the effects of greenhouse gas assurance and board diversity on cost of debt by employing an international sample of firms during 2015–2021.

The authors find that in firms with a relatively low cost of debt the external assurance of greenhouse gas emissions and gender diversity could significantly contribute to a reduction of cost of debt. Furthermore, other measures of board diversity that are linked with independent directors and skilled directors seem to contribute to an increase of firms' cost of debt in the lower end of distribution. Drawing from the agency theory, the authors showcase the fact that ghg assurance reduces information asymmetry and therefore agency costs such as borrowing costs and signals to the stakeholders a long-term commitment to excellence.

This study is the first that provides insights on the relationship between ghg assurance, board diversity and cost of debt.

This study examines the evidence of the impact of climate change on the financial performance of basic materials companies in Vietnam.

The research sample includes eighty-two basic materials companies listed on the Vietnamese stock market from 2003 to 2022. This study used one-way and two-way fixed-effects feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) estimation methods.

Climate change, measured through variables including changes in temperature, average rainfall, greenhouse gas emissions and rising sea levels, has a negative impact on the financial performance of companies in this industry. The study also found that, with rising temperatures, the financial performance of steel manufacturing companies decreased less than that of coal mining and forestry companies, but increasing greenhouse gases and rising sea levels reduced the financial performance of steel companies. We did not find evidence of any difference in the impact of climate change on the financial performance of basic materials companies before and after the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 21). This is a new finding, which is consistent with empirical studies in Vietnam and different from previous studies in that it provides new evidence on the impact of climate change on the financial performance of basic materials companies in the Vietnamese market and cross-checks the impact of climate change by sector and over time.

To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first articles on climate change and the financial performance of basic materials companies.

Considering the evolving importance of green finance, this study uses climate-related development mitigation finance as a proxy of green finance and investigates the impact of green finance on ecological footprint as an indicator of environmental quality along with the influence of economic growth, renewable energy, greenhouse gas emissions, trade openness and urbanization across 47 developing countries over the period 2000–2018.

After finding the presence of cross-sectional dependency among variables, the second-generation panel unit root test was employed to detect the order of integration among the variables. Since all the variables were found to be stationary, Westerlund cointegration technique was employed to detect the long-run relationship among the variables. Then, the long-run elasticity among the dependent and independent variables was tested using fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and pooled mean group–autoregressive distributed lag (PMG–ARDL) approaches.

The empirical findings suggest the presence of long-run relationship among all the variables, namely, ecological footprint, green finance, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, trade openness and urbanization for the selected developing countries in the sample. Furthermore, economic growth, greenhouse gas emissions, trade openness and urbanization, all have a positive and significant impact on the ecological footprint, whereas renewable energy consumption and green finance have a significant and negative impact on the ecological footprint, which supports the view that environmental quality is improved with the greater use of renewable energy technologies and allocation of greater amounts of more green finance.

The empirical results of this study offer policymakers and regulators some implications for environmental policy for protecting the countries from ecological issues.

This paper investigates the impact of CO2 vs CO2 “equivalents” (CO2e) by analyzing fugitive emissions, with a particular focus on Fluorinated gases (F-gases), arising from refrigerant leakages in buildings. F-gases are an especially powerful set of GHGs with a global warming potential hundreds to thousands of times greater than that of CO2.

The significant impact of CO2e is tested by means of an empirical study with current consumption data from German food retail warehouses. This evaluation involves the analysis of the Carbon Risk Real Estate Monitor's country- and property-type specific pathway, coupled with a paired samples t-test to examine the hypotheses. The assessment is undertaken by evaluating the type of gas and the amount of leakage reported in the baseline year, subsequently converting these values to CO2e units.

On average, F-gases account for 40% of total building emissions and nearly 45% of cumulative emissions until 2050. In light of ongoing climate change and the rising number of Cooling Degree Days (CDDs), it becomes imperative to assess both the environmental and economic impact of F-gases and to transition toward environmentally friendly refrigerants.

The analysis sheds light on the seldom-addressed threats posed by CO2e emissions stemming from refrigerant losses. By identifying these threats, investors can devise strategies to mitigate potential future costs and carbon risks.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of the industrial sector, renewable energy consumption and nonrenewable energy consumption in Indonesia on the ecological footprint from 1990 to 2020 in the short and long term.

This paper uses vector error correction model (VECM) analysis to examine the relationship in the short and long term. In addition, the impulse response function is used to enable future forecasts up to 2060 of the ecological footprint as a measure of environmental degradation caused by changes or shocks in industrial value-added, renewable energy consumption and nonrenewable energy consumption. Furthermore, forecast error decomposition of variance (FEVD) analysis is carried out to predict the percentage contribution of each variable’s variance to changes in a specific variable. Granger causality testing is used to enhance the analysis outcomes within the framework of VECM.

Using VECM analysis, the speed of adjustment for environmental damage is quite high in the short term, at 246%. This finding suggests that when there is a short-term imbalance in industrial value-added, renewable energy consumption and nonrenewable energy consumption, the ecological footprint experiences a very rapid adjustment, at 246%, to move towards long-term balance. Then, in the long term, the ecological footprint in Indonesia is most influenced by nonrenewable energy consumption. This is also confirmed by the Granger causality test and the results of FEVD, which show that the contribution of nonrenewable energy consumption will be 10.207% in 2060 and will be the main contributor to the ecological footprint in the coming years to achieve net-zero emissions in 2060. In the long run, renewable energy consumption has a negative effect on the ecological footprint, whereas industrial value-added and nonrenewable energy consumption have a positive effect.

For the first time, value added from the industrial sector is being used alongside renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption to measure Indonesia’s ecological footprint. The primary cause of Indonesia’s alarming environmental degradation is the industrial sector, which acts as the driving force behind this issue. Consequently, this contribution is expected to inform the policy implications required to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2060, aligned with the G20 countries’ Bali agreement of 2022.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to shed light on the influence of stakeholder pressure on carbon disclosure in an emerging economy.

The present study is based on Bombay Stock Exchange 100 Indian firms for the period of 5 years from 2016–17 to 2020–21. The association between stakeholder pressure and carbon disclosure, along with certain control variables, has been explored through a regression model.

The results of the study suggest that stakeholders exert a significant influence on corporate carbon disclosure. Further results confirm that regulatory and customer pressure have the most significant and positive influence, while shareholders and creditors exert a significant and negative influence on carbon disclosure. The study also finds that employee pressure does not have any association with carbon disclosure.

This study adds to the existing literature on climate change, carbon disclosure and stakeholder pressure.

The present study provides useful insights to corporate managers and policymakers as the study concludes that stakeholders exert a significant influence on carbon disclosure.

Previous studies examining the stakeholder pressure on carbon disclosure ignored emerging economies, while the present study has considered India, which is a developing as well as an emerging economy. Further, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is the first of its kind to investigate the stakeholder pressure on carbon disclosure in the Indian context. The present study develops a comprehensive index to measure corporate carbon disclosure.

Climate change is the biggest global health threat of the 21st century. Its impacts scatter through every stratum of society placing the marginalized clusters at the highest vulnerability and calling for action at all levels. Adaptation enhances resilience, whereas mitigation minimizes the anthropogenic forces of climate change; these are crucial initiatives for climate-resilient sustainable development. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitudes on climate change adaptation and mitigation at individual level and assess related factors.

A descriptive study is done to assess the knowledge and attitudes of school teachers in three educational zones of the Kalutara district using random cluster sampling. A self-administered questionnaire including 25 equally weighted questions to assess knowledge and 10 statements to assess attitudes was used.

The response rate was 98.8% [n = 618] and 23% of the study population had poor knowledge of climate change adaptation and mitigation at the individual level. Favorable attitudes were observed among more than 65% of participants for all the statements on climate change adaptation and mitigation. Average family income, working duration, involvement in school environmental societies and highest education qualification showed a significant positive association, whereas age and current grade had a significant negative association with good knowledge. The level of knowledge had no significant variation among male and female teachers.

Overall knowledge was poor among more than 20% of the teachers highlighting the need for school and community-based awareness programs to be implemented to address the issue.

Companies affected by California’s cap-and-trade legislation are allotted certain credits for production that can be used or sold and can purchase additional credits from the state, which become a revenue source to be used for activities that reduce carbon emissions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate who ultimately pays for this program, its effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions in accordance with established goals, and the related effectiveness to advance social, economic, and environmental equity.

The methodology used for this research is secondary data analysis, triangulating three sources: California’s Climate Change Investment Reports, 2019-2021; repositories maintained by the California High-Speed Rail Authority and the California Air Resources Board; and a review of the literature and websites from other professional sources which addressed, directly and indirectly, the topics and questions explored in the study.

Key findings include evidence of enhancing social and environmental equity but ineffectiveness in reducing carbon emissions in accordance with state goals. Furthermore, the program displays evidence of economic inequity as it demonstrates characteristics of regressive taxation and an inability of low-income persons to acquire electric vehicles due to high costs.

The research effort is unique in that no other academic efforts were located which attempt to examine the cap-and-trade program’s effectiveness in attaining its goals.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the key roles of transparency in making artificial intelligence (AI) greener (i.e. causing lesser carbon dioxide emissions) during the design, development and manufacturing stages or processes of AI technologies (e.g. apps, systems, agents, tools, artifacts) and use the “explicability requirement” as an essential value within the framework of transparency in supporting arguments for realizing greener AI.

The approach of this paper is argumentative, which is supported by ideas from existing literature and documents.

This paper puts forward a relevant recommendation for achieving better and sustainable outcomes after the reexamination of the identified roles played by transparency within the AI technology context. The proposed recommendation is based on scientific opinion, which is justified by the roles and importance of the two approaches (compliance and integrity) in ethics management and other areas of ethical studies.

The originality of this paper falls within the boundary of filling the gap that exists in sustainable AI technology and the roles of transparency.

This qualitative study explores how multinational enterprises (MNEs) approach sustainable innovation through the lens of innovation theory and doughnut economics. The study proposes a conceptual framework to evaluate the practices of businesses and the findings illustrate how sustainable innovation occurs within two MNEs. Based on interviews with professionals of two Swedish MNEs, responsible for sustainability, the study examines how sustainable innovations lead to the redesign of core business pillars and transforms the operating market for the MNE. Overall, this study makes a theoretical contribution by formulating an application of Raworth’s (2017) doughnut model to business strategy. It also provides practical insight into the dynamics of sustainable innovation, which aims to inform and inspire further progress in sustainable development by businesses and academia.