• Energy Research
• 2021-2025close
• social sciences close
• 12. Responsible consumption close
• 9. Industry and infrastructure close

The territorial approach is the basic approach to a region management. At the same time, the “territory” component is the basis of the logistics complex used in Supply Chain Management. In this regard, a need is to clarify and supplement the theory and methodology of the territorial approach to the management of both the region and the supply chains.The subject of this study is the relationship between the regional authorities and the focus enterprise of the supply chain regarding the development of the territories and resources of the region on a mutually beneficial basis.The research methods are methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, as well as classification, and the tools are binary matrices that provide for the joint use of two classification attributes of the object under study and their dichotomies.The results of this study are the management principles by the competitiveness and sustainability of the management object; classifications of approaches to the management by the region and supply chains; of territories from the point of view of the focus enterprise of the supply chain and the region; the management decisions in the interaction of regions with the links of supply chains; the sequence of the formation of supply chains and the development of territories and resources of the region on the basis of the territorial approach and the relationship between them.The obtained results allow to reduce the costs and time for the development of territories and resources of the region by reducing the lost profits of the supply chain links due to their rational placement and increasing sustainability by achieving a synergistic effect both by the region and by the supply chains.

Multistakeholder Meta-Organisations (MS-MOs) are often perceived as a ‘magic bullet’ that can tackle societal grand challenges in global supply chains. In this paper, we consider the case of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and we investigate the extent to which an MS-MO reshapes the attribution of responsibility for sustainability in supply chains, especially in relation to underlying power dynamics. We conduct a multimodal critical discourse analysis of a broad range of sources, including videos and interviews. We show that through its discursive strategies, the RSPO allocates the responsibility for social and environmental issues to the two extremes of the supply chain: objectifying consumers at one end and smallholders at the other, hence reproducing and even exacerbating the traditional imbalanced power dynamics in supply chains. Our work contributes to the emerging, more critical strand of research investigating meta-organisations (MOs) and sustainable supply chain management.

In the context of the globalization and internationalization of economies, to efficiently attract financial and intellectual capital that is necessary for business sustainability, the mechanisms of corporate governance have to be based on gaining the trust of all the interested parties. These objectives require an organizational culture and a climate which is based on correctness, responsibility, transparency, and efficiency, in which ethical principles govern the spread of behaviors in the entire entity. This research identifies the relation between the corporate governance and the entities’ financial performance using the specific context of Romania. The findings of this study reveal new insights on the corporate governance and financial performance based on a sample of companies listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The results show a positive correlation between the net accounting results, earnings per share, and the duality of the CEO, and a negative correlation between price per share and the duality of the CEO.

Car-sharing services are developing at an ever-increasing pace. Taking into account the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and pursuit of the sustainable development of transport, implementing electric cars in car-sharing fleets is being proposed. On the one hand, these types of vehicles are referred to as emission-free, but on the other hand, their environmental friendliness is questionable due to the emission of carbon dioxide during the production of energy to power them. Although many scientific papers are devoted to the issue of reducing emissions through car sharing, there is a research gap concerning the real production of carbon dioxide by car-sharing vehicles during car-sharing trips. To fill this research gap, the objective of the article was to analyze the actual level of carbon dioxide emissions from combustion and electric vehicles from car-sharing systems produced when renting rides. The test results showed that the electric car turned out to be significantly less emitting. The use of electric vehicles in car-sharing fleets can reduce carbon dioxide emissions from 14% to 65% compared to using cars with internal combustion engines. However, the key role during car-sharing trips is played by the driving style of the drivers, which has been omitted from the literature to date. This should be properly regulated by service providers and focus on the proper use of energy from electric vehicle batteries, especially at low temperatures. The article provides support for operators planning to modernize their fleet of vehicles and fills the research gap concerning car-sharing emissions.

The objectives of this study are to: estimate African countries’ Government Openness Index (AGOI) to see the updated progress of open government in those countries, examine which areas African countries should further improve for sustainable development, and compare the performance of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) member countries to that of non-OGP countries in forming AGOI. This study developed the AGOI with 32 selected countries and four factors (ACC (accountability), TRA (transparency), CPF (citizen participation and freedom) and ICT (information and communication technology)) for the period of 2006–2019. The results show that African countries have continuously increased the values of AGOI for the period. ACC has barely changed, but TRA has increased slightly. Both CPF and ICT have increased at higher growth rates during the period. The OGP group reached much better scores than their non-OGP counterparts, with positive differences in AGOI, ICT, CPF, and TRA, except ACC. The results of this study suggest that the constantly increasing CPF and ICT levels in countries that have similar conditions as African countries should be further improved to function well enough to build accountability and transparency. It is also recommended that countries join the OGP in order to move towards improving government openness and creating sustainable development.

The social confinement resulting from the COVID-19 crisis temporarily reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Although experts contend that the decrease in pollution rates was not drastic, some surveys detect growth in social concern about the climate. In this new climate-conscious environment, municipalities and local governments are promoting a new way of living and caring for cities, even before they can regain national and international freedom of movement. This work analyzes the connections between new climate awareness arising from the COVID-19 crisis, proposals of sustainable citizenship around the world, and its communication on Twitter to educate the new eco-conscious audience. The methodology mixes quantitative and qualitative analysis, using the Twitonomy Premium tool and the Twitter research tool with data extracted at the end of December 2020. Among the top ten most influential and active accounts, the results show educational institutions, local institutions, companies, neighborhoods, associations, and influencers. The impossibility of living in the city has not prevented citizen education and commitment to make real change for when that city and its citizens return to normality. However, this new normality must be different: more ecological, more responsible, more sustainable, and practiced from early childhood.

Nowadays, the issues related with environment preservation assume an increasing importance. Progressively, more sustainable solutions/techniques are being developed to combat environmental destruction. The decision to include themes related to the environment in the curriculum of technological courses in higher education aims to promote more sustainable behaviors and in an indirect way, increase the environmental literacy of the population. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the environmental literacy focusing on four topics, i.e., air pollution, water pollution, global warming, and energy resources. For this purpose, a questionnaire was developed and applied to a convenience sample, formed by individuals of both genders, aged between 20 and 81 years old. The questionnaire intended to collect data to characterize the sample and assess the literacy regarding environmental issues. In order to carry out the environmental literacy assessment, the respondents were asked to express their degree of agreement with some statements related with the environmental themes mentioned above. The data collected was analyzed using data mining tools. The results suggest that the population’s literacy is satisfactory in relation to some issues, but insufficient in relation to others, equally important, but less disseminated.

This is the first study to use a quantitative approach in examining the impact of internet banking implementation as a green banking practice on bank profitability in Egypt. Moreover, it is the first global study to differentiate the impact between basic and advanced transactional internet banking on bank profitability. A total of 20 banks operating in Egypt were sampled over two time periods: 2009–2018 and 2014–2018. Random effects generalized least squares (GLS) regression analysis and nonparametric analysis were used. Findings indicate that advanced transactional internet banking, as a green banking practice that contributes to the Egyptian sustainable development strategy (SDS), significantly impacts bank profitability after three or more years of implementation. This study’s results are consistent with the findings of other comparable research conducted in developed markets. The findings of this study provide practical implications for managers and policymakers.