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Questions of justice in the transition to a green economy have been raised by various social forces. Very few proposals, however, have been as focused and developed as the “just transition” strategy proposed by global labour unions. Yet, labour unions are remarkably absent from discussions of the transition towards a green economy. This is surprising as labour unions are arguably the largest organizations in the world fighting for basic rights and more just social relations. This paper tries to advance the potential contribution of labour unions in this arena by asking: what is the full scope of “just transition” today and how have labour unions developed and refined it over the years to render the move towards a green economy both environmentally and socially sustainable? The concept of just transition is hotly debated within labour unions and has different interpretations, and hence different strategies. The last section assesses these interpretations by means of a normative framework, which seeks to fuse political economy and political ecology. Empirically, we add to the growing literature on labour environmentalism, as well as transitions more generally. Analytically, our goal is to place the various approaches to a “just transition” within a heuristic framework of environmental justice that is explicit about power relations when demanding justice, two themes central to this special issue.

Introduction: Active modes of transport can be defined as means of travel and transport at reduced speed, which take up little space on public roads and do not emit air pollutants or noise, being seen as an economic, social, and environmental asset, and a real alternative to motorized vehicles. Given its characteristics, the environmental benefits retrieved from active modes of transport should not serve only as a justification for its promotion but as a decisive and active factor in the scope of its actual use, which translates into the provision of pleasant and less polluted routes. Thus, the main objective of this paper is the development of a model for planning and generating urban routes for active modes that have a less negative influence on active users (pedestrians and cyclists) regarding their exposure to air and noise pollution. Methods: Conventional route planners are mostly designed to find the shortest, fastest, or less expensive route. In this research, the model to assign the best route will be presented for pedestrians and cyclists from an environmental point of view, by defining the least polluted, less noisy, and most health-friendly path. Based on the production of noise and air pollution maps, the model proposes the contamination of the network routes, which are used to determine healthoriented routes. The model is carried out through the calculation of the noise and pollution exposure for the routes found, compared to the shortest route. Conclusion: It was possible to conclude that less polluted routes may imply a small increase in the length of routes, but a significant gain in terms of reduction in exposure to PM10 and noise for active modes. Thus, the use of health-friendly routes can be seen as a matter of public health and a way for promoting more sustainable mobility. Available online 12 June 2022 (undefined)

In order to achieve the Paris Agreement goals of keeping the temperature rise well below 2 °C or even 1.5 °C, all countries would need to make fair and ambitious contributions to reducing emissions. A vast majority of countries have adopted reduction targets by 2030 in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). There are many alternative ways to analyze the fairness of national mitigation contributions. This article uses a model framework based on six equity principles of effort-sharing, to allocate countries’ reduction targets under global emissions scenarios consistent with meeting the Paris climate goals. It further compares these allocations with the NDCs. The analysis shows that most countries need to adopt more ambitious reduction targets by 2030 to meet 2 °C, and even more for 1.5 °C. In the context of 2 °C, the NDCs of the United States of America and the European Union lack ambition with respect to the approaches that emphasize responsibility; China's NDC projection falls short of satisfying any approach in 2030. In the context of 1.5 °C, only India, by implementing its most ambitious efforts by 2030, could be in line with most equity principles. For most countries, the NDCs would use most of their allowed emissions space for the entire 21 st century by 2030, posing a major challenge to transform to a pathway consistent with their fair contributions in the long-term.

This study investigates the environmental improvements associated to the integration of a microalgae unit as a side-stream process within an existing municipal wastewater treatment facility in northern Italy. Microalgae are fed on the centrate from sludge dewatering, rich in nutrients, and on the CO2 in the flue-gas of the combined heat and power unit. The produced biomass is recirculated upflow the water line where it settles and undergoes anaerobic digestion generating extra biogas. A life cycle assessment was performed collecting primary data from an algal pilot-scale plant installed at the facility. Fifteen environmental indicators were evaluated. Compared to the baseline wastewater treatment, the new algal configuration allows an improvement for 7 out of 15 indicators mainly thanks to the electricity savings in the facility. Some recommendations are provided to improve the performance of the algal system in the scaling up.

A proper analysis (an evaluation) of the environmental load of consumption is important in the context of sustainable development. Presently, different methods are used to calculate the environmental load of household consumption, mainly in energy and or greenhouse gas emission terms. These methods are all based on input-output energy analysis, but use different data sources and produce different results. In this article, we discern and describe three methods used to calculate the total energy requirements of households, and we discuss the main results produced with these methods. All three methods are applied to the Netherlands in order to compare differences and similarities in the results. We found that the total energy requirement calculated with all three methods was almost the same, with differences less than 4%, however each method provides results at a different level. Basic energy input-output analysis generates total requirements and requirements per consumption category, and is therefore suitable for describing and explaining the effect of household consumption. The hybrid method combining energy input-output analysis with process analysis generates requirements per consumption item and therefore offers opportunities to search for options of change of household consumption patterns to more sustainable consumption. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The high level of emissions and pollution caused by diesel engines increases the importance of developing low-emission and high-efficiency fuel technologies. Implementing various modifications in engines has the potential to reduce emissions, however, these adjustments can lead to technical difficulties and inefficiencies in terms of cost. In this case, as an alternative solution, the use of diesel fuel (DF), biodiesel (B100), nanoparticle and light or heavy alcohol mixtures can be considered; these fuels can help engines produce less polluting emissions. As it is known, the main reason why internal combustion engines emit emissions such as particulate matter, hydrocarbon (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO) into the atmosphere is incomplete combustion of the fuel. The high oxygen content of fuels such as biodiesel and alcohol can solve these combustion problems. The focus of this study is a detailed investigation of the effect on emissions of mixtures of DF, B100 derived from safflower seed oil with a low Free Fatty Acid (%FFAs) value, and n-decanol. Emission values obtained for DF, B100, 50%/50% volume ratio diesel/biodiesel (DF50B50), 50%/50% volume ratio diesel/n-decanol (DF50DE50), 50%/25%/25% volume ratio diesel/biodiesel/n-decanol (DF50B25DE25), Emission values of 50%/35%/15% diesel/biodiesel/n-decanol (DF50B35DE15) and 50%/45%/5% diesel/biodiesel/n-decanol (DF50B45DE5) blends were compared. Among these blends, compared to DF at maximum load, DF50B50, DF50DE50, DF50B25DE25, DF50B35DE15, and DF50B45DE5 fuels reduced smoke opacity (SO) by 80.17%, 86.78%, 54.55%, 21.49%, and increased it by 15.70%, respectively. Under the same load conditions, compared to DF, NOx emissions were reduced by 19.18%, 21.38%, 17.30%, increased by 34.91%, and reduced by 15.72% respectively with DF50B50, DF50DE50, DF50B25DE25, DF50B35DE15, and DF50B45DE5 fuels. Under the same load conditions, CO emissions were also reduced by 23.08%, 15.38%, 16.15%, increased by 40%, and reduced by 16.92% respectively with DF50B50, DF50DE50, DF50B25DE25, DF50B35DE15, and DF50B45DE5 fuels.

The new challenges posed at the European level, with the Next Generation EU, and at the national level, with the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, increase the priority of measuring spatial transformation through specific indicators. For this purpose, it is crucial to measure the effect of the transformations provided by current planning with respect to the goals of 2030 Agenda to assess their sustainability/unsustainability and, if necessary, propose improvements in the field of territorial planning. The work presented describes a research experience developed in collaboration with the Abruzzo Region, in Southern Italy, to support regional activities for the drafting of the Regional Sustainable Development Strategy (RSDS). The proposed methodology consists of a dynamic analysis through which it is possible to assess the positioning of regional planning in relation to the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Such position can be evaluated by carrying out a coherence analysis between the objectives of the Abruzzo Region's Plans and those of 2030 Agenda together with the selection of a set of indicators useful for monitoring the sustainability of territorial transformations expected by regional planning. In particular, the first recognition of the sustainability indicators was carried out from the ones proposed by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) and the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA). UPLanD - Journal of Urban Planning, Landscape & environmental Design, Vol 6 No 1: Contemporary Urbanism

Drawing on the stewardship theory (ST) and socio-emotional wealth (SEW) perspective, this study investigates the role of sustainable activities within family firms (FFs) and the effect of marketing strategic decisions in improving their corporate social responsibility performance. To achieve the research aims, we analysed a sample of 730 American and European listed companies from 2015 to 2020. The results show that family businesses are more socially responsible than non-family businesses due to the presence of stewards. However, strategic marketing decisions have unclear effects in achieving these outcomes. This study expands the literature on ST and SEW in FFs, integrating them with sustainable principles. We also contribute to the sustainability debate and marketing literature related to FFs.