• Energy Research

Reasonably promoting the off-farm employment of rural surplus labor in China’s collective forest areas is an important way to increase forest resources and increase farmers’ income. China’s new round of collective forest tenure reform (CFTR) aims to optimize forest area labor allocation by strengthening forestland property rights. Therefore, in different village off-farm environments, it is necessary to explore how forestland property rights affect off-farm employment in forest areas. Based on survey data from 742 households in Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces, this paper examines this effect using the double-hurdle model. The results indicate that forestland transfer rights promote decision-making about, and the supply of, off-farm labor, while forest harvesting rights significantly increase the supply of off-farm labor. The villages’ off-farm income ratio also affected the supply of off-farm labor. Moreover, under the regulation of the village off-farm income ratio, the positive incentives of forestland transfer rights on decision-making about, and the supply of, off-farm labor gradually weakened, but the incentive effect of forest harvesting rights on the supply of off-farm labor gradually increased. It is proposed that the CFTR should be further promoted, the forestland circulation mechanism and regulating forest harvest quota system should be improved, and implementation of forestry property mortgages should be strengthened.

Abstract Background The global food system is causing considerable environmental harm. A transition towards more sustainable consumption is needed. Targeted public policy interventions are crucial for stimulating such transition. While there is extensive research about the promotion of more environmentally sustainable food consumption, this knowledge is scattered across different sources. This systematic map aims to collate and describe the available evidence on public policy interventions such as laws, directives, taxes and information campaigns, for achieving sustainable food consumption patterns. Methods We will search bibliographic databases, specialist websites, Google Scholar and bibliographies of relevant reviews. Searches for academic literature will be performed in English, while searches for grey literature will be performed in English, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian. Screening, including consistency checking exercises, will be done at two levels: title and abstract, and full text. We will use machine learning algorithms to support screening at the title and abstract level. Coding and meta-data extraction will include bibliographic information, policy details and context, and measured environmental outcome(s). The evidence base will be summarised narratively using tables and graphs and presented as an online interactive searchable database and a website that will allow for visualisation, filtering and exploring systematic map findings, knowledge gaps and clusters.

The study aims to test the nexus of green financing with renewable electricity generation and energy efficiency. The study used data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique during the year of 2016 to 2020 in developed and developing countries. The findings show that there is a 24% possibility of worldwide rise in expenditures in renewable energy through energy efficiency projects and probably could fall around 17% much further in 2017 and 2018. This may jeopardize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate change agreement. Lack of access to private financing slows the development of green initiatives. Now that sustainable energy is not about science and technology, it is all about getting financing in developed and developing countries. As policy measure, the study suggested to value environmental initiatives, like other infrastructure initiatives, for greater electricity generation and energy efficiency in developed and developing countries. Such infrastructural projects need long-term financing and capital intensiveness. It is further suggested to sustain growth, development, and energy poverty reduction, and around $26 trillion would be required, in terms of green financing, in the developed and developing countries alone by the year 2030 to enhance energy efficiency. To achieve energy sustainability goals in developed and developing countries, recent research suggested some policy implication considering the post COVID-19 time. If such policy implications are implemented successfully, there are chances that green financing would make energy generation and energy efficiency effective.

Considering the significance of green governance in economic restructuring and the green technology revolution, this study examines the impact of China’s recent green governance policies and their implications in various regions; it also examines new models, methods, and development directions for China’s green governance in the future. Green governance efficiency and spatial patterns have been studied through 2008–2018 data using a three-stage generalized panel Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) model, spatial autocorrelation model, spatial gravity model, and social network analysis. The study summarizes the status and role of each provincial region in green governance based on the social network of green governance efficiency under the network architecture. It concludes that (1) green governance efficiency in China’s provinces has a U-shaped trend, with non-managerial elements in the external environment masking genuine green governance efficiency. (2) During the study period, the overall efficiency of the industrial system improved. The efficiency of the manufacturing and wastewater stages has been substantially enhanced, but no significant gains were observed in the treatment stages of solid and gas waste. (3) Although China has made progress in enhancing the overall efficiency of its industrial system, there is still potential for improvement. (4) China has established a “three horizontal and two vertical grid-type” green governance spatial correlation structure among the sub-stages of the industrial system, and the radiation impact of major provincial areas would increase overall green governance efficiency.