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The present age is characterized by a very complex economic relationship among finance, technology, social needs, etc., which can be summarized in the word “sustainability.” The sustainable consumption and production policies represent the keys to realize sustainable development. But, the analysis of the carbon footprint data points out that the present economies are still carbon-consumption production. The reduction of greenhouse gasses emissions is based on a shift from fossil to renewable and bio-based industrial raw materials, with a related reorganization of the chains of the energy and manufacturing sectors. But, this requirement implies technological choices based on a sustainable measurement of their impacts on the ecological and economical contexts. So, social and economic requirements must also be taken into account by the decision-makers. Bioeconomy can represent a possible approach to deal with the requirements of the present time. But, new needs emerge in relation to sustainability. So, sustainable policies require new indicators, in order to consider the link among economics, technologies, and social well-being. In this paper, an irreversible thermodynamic approach is developed, in order to introduce a thermoeconomic indicator, based on thermodynamic optimization methods, but also on socioeconomic and ecological evaluations. The entropy production rate is introduced in relation to the CO2emission flows from human activities, and it is related to the income index, in order to consider the economic and social equity. This approach is of interest of the researchers in the field of econophysics, thermoeconomy, economics, and bioeconomy.

The implementation of good practice in the natural resource management processes is crucial to the economic development of many countries. Well managed resources can bring high financial rewards and benefit the entire country, while poor resource management can lead to severe social and economic consequences. The allocation of licenses for the exploration and development of the natural resources is of particular importance in establishing good management and ensuring the accrual of benefits to the country. In this paper we identify an analytic framework for establishing the most suitable license allocation approach in any context, and apply this to five case studies. From this application we draw conclusions regarding best practice and identify the policy implications of this discussion.

10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113278 ; Energy Policy ; 171 ; 113278-113278

The need for a clear research and policy agenda to assist early stage Cleantech financing has never been greater. These businesses may hold important keys to unlocking vital globally game changing technologies to tackle climate change. The paper provides an overview of recent academic literature and proposes a research agenda for early stage Cleantech SME finance. With growing interest in how to support innovations that tackle the climate emergency, there is a need for evidence that can assist the private sector, civil society organizations and policymakers in finding more effective ways to encourage impact investing and other finance for early stage Cleantech SMEs. This research agenda will therefore contribute to sustainability transitions in key sectors and the development of a sustainable low carbon economy.

Rapid transformation to meet the Paris 1.5oC climate target requires greater attention to be given to the role of innovative low carbon early stage businesses and the public sector’s role in addressing finance gaps for longer horizon investment requirements. As entrepreneurs require different forms of finance as their businesses grow and move up the ‘finance escalator’, we explore the role of public sector support for grant, equity, debt and new forms of crowd funding finance. These funds can enable individual sustainability focussed businesses to access finance and encourage finance into new areas through having a demonstration effect. We conclude that a finance ecosystem approach is required that ensures complementary forms of finance for low carbon investment are connected at local, national and international scales, alongside support to build entrepreneurial skills and investment readiness. There is also a need for better evidence of the role of public sector support and where there is greatest impact on climate change.

AbstractThe changing risk of flooding associated with climate change presents different challenges for the different flood insurance market models in use around the world, which vary in respect of consumer structure and their risk transfer mechanism. A review of international models has been undertaken against three broad criteria for the functioning and sustainability of a flood insurance scheme: knowing the nature of the insurable risk; the availability of an insurable population; and the presence of a solvent insurer. The solvency of insurance markets appears strong, partly because insurers and reinsurers can choose to exclude markets which would give rise to insolvency or can diversify their portfolios to include offsetting perils. Changing risk may threaten solvency if increasing risk is not recognised and adjusted for but insurability of flood risk may be facilitated by the use of market based and hybrid schemes offering greater diversification and more flexibility. While encouragement of mitigation is in theory boosted by risk based pricing, availability and affordability of insurance may be negatively impacted. This threatens the sustainability of an insurable population, therefore the inclusion of the state in partnership is beneficial in ensuring continuity of cover, addressing equity issues and incentivising mitigation.

As the urban populations increase we have to think more deeply about how to make cities less stressful and more creative for people to live in. Liveability and quality of life are key factors while designing and managing energy, water, pollution, and waste systems which are sustainable for the long term. The rapidly developing digital technologies can help to enable these aims to be achieved. New approaches are proposed with recommendations for achieving these goals. As cities grow and change, digital technologies will be at the heart of improvement. This paper considers how observed trends will have implications on the digital cities of the future and how digital technologies will empower citizens and enable their cities to become intelligent, livable, and sustainable.

We study the net impacts of international trade on carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions in African countries at different income groupings and otherdriving forces of environmental impacts (CO2 emissions) using an augmentedSTIRPATN model. The continent experienced a large growth in carbon dioxideemissions of about 701.88% between 1960 and 2010, and this provoked ourinterest in the study. We identify the key driving forces to be net trade, populationdensity, final consumption expenditure (annual growth), manufacturing sectorand services sector. We also found that the services sector consistently show lowcarbonemission impacts particularly in low middle income countries in Africa(LIMCA) and upper income countries in Africa (UICA). Indicating that a shiftfrom highly depended manufacturing economies that suggest increasing-carboneconomies in both LIMC and UICA to services economies is vital in order to strivefor a low-carbon economies in the continent. The coefficient for net trade standsout explicitly significant and positive for all the income groupings. The findingsshow that the average effect of net trade over CO2, when the net trade changesacross time and between countries increases by 1%, CO2 emissions increases byabout 1.68%, 2.45% and 1.01% for LICA, LMICA and UICA respectively, whenall other predictors are constant.