“双碳”背景下Z企业可持续能力评价研究

Against the backdrop of global climate change and dual carbon goals, the logistics industry, which accounts for about 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions, needs green transformation. Yet, existing evaluation systems have fragmented dimensions, excessive subjectivity, and insufficient objectivity. This study aims to construct a scientific evaluation framework. It uses two rounds of the Delphi method to screen 13 core indicators, forming an environment–economy–society–technology four-dimensional system, and it improves the three-interval TOPSIS method with interval-type ideal solutions, supplemented by Spearman and Pearson dual verification. Taking 24 core cities in the Yangtze River Delta as samples, the results show hierarchical and regional differences: 3 cities (Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou) are excellent, 12 are good, and 9 are qualified. The evaluation system unifies standards for cross-regional and industry comparisons, which works as a quantitative tool for government policy-making and enterprise green transformation, contributing to the development of the logistics industry’s low-carbon intelligent and the achievement of dual carbon goals.

Driven by the global energy transition and the pursuit of “dual carbon” goals, sustainability risks within the coal supply chain have emerged as a central obstacle impeding the low-carbon transformation of high-carbon industries. To address the critical gap in systematic and multidimensional risk assessments for coal supply chains, this study proposes a hybrid framework that integrates the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method. Utilizing the Delphi method and the coefficient of variation technique, this study develops a risk assessment system encompassing eight primary criteria and forty sub-criteria. These indicators cover economic, operational safety, ecological and environmental, management policy, demand, sustainable supply, information technology, and social risks. An empirical analysis is conducted, using a prominent Chinese coal enterprise as a case study. The findings demonstrate that the overall risk level of the enterprise is “moderate”, with demand risk, information technology risk, and social risk ranking as the top three concerns. This underscores the substantial impact of accelerated energy substitution, digital system vulnerabilities, and stakeholder conflicts on supply chain resilience. Further analysis elucidates the transmission mechanisms of critical risk nodes, including financing constraints, equipment modernization delays, and deficiencies in end-of-pipe governance. Targeted strategies are proposed, such as constructing a diversified financing matrix, developing a blockchain-based data-sharing platform, and establishing a community co-governance mechanism. These measures offer scientific decision-making support for the coal industry’s efforts to balance “ensuring supply” with “reducing carbon emissions”, and provide a replicable risk assessment paradigm for the sustainable transformation of global high-carbon supply chains.

The "dual-carbon" strategy provides new opportunities for the sustainable and high-quality development of logistics enterprises. This paper starts from the concept of carbon performance, analyzes the necessity of constructing a carbon performance evaluation system for logistics enterprises under the dual-carbon background, and explores specific construction methods. By integrating carbon emission, carbon efficiency, and carbon innovation indicators into the traditional balanced scorecard's four dimensionsfinancial, customer, internal processes, and learning & growththis study establishes a carbon performance evaluation system model for logistics enterprises. Furthermore, this paper proposes strategies for optimizing the evaluation system, including formulating carbon emission regulations and standards, building a national carbon trading market, and strengthening guidance and training for enterprise carbon performance management. These efforts aim to facilitate the green transformation of logistics enterprises and contribute to achieving the national dual-carbon goals.

Against the backdrop of China’s “dual carbon” strategy targeting carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, the scientific evaluation of enterprises’ carbon credit rating has become a critical element in building a green financial system and advancing low-carbon corporate transformation. Particularly in the power sector, which is characterized by high carbon intensity, the development of an effective carbon credit rating model can help regulatory bodies accurately identify carbon-risk enterprises and provide a solid basis for financial institutions’ green credit and investment decisions. This study constructs a multi-source dataset integrating structured data (e.g., carbon emissions, energy consumption, financial indicators) and unstructured data (e.g., policy responses, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance, and public sentiment). It applies a combined Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)-entropy weighting method to determine indicator weights and builds a classification model using logistic regression and a BP neural network. An empirical analysis of listed power enterprises on China’s A-share market shows that the proposed approach outperforms traditional singlemethod models in terms of accuracy and robustness, offering strong applicability and practical significance.

Under the dual-carbon background, China's government actively promotes carbon emission reduction, and the value connotation of high-energy-consuming and high-emission paper enterprises has also changed. The value of a paper company not only includes the traditional economic value, but also should consider the environmental benefits due to the policy-driven. Based on the traditional EVA model, this paper introduces Monte Carlo simulation to determine the predicted EVA value, and combines it with the analysis of the environmental benefits of paper enterprises to further improve the green EVA environmental performance evaluation system and measure the value of the environmental contribution of the enterprise, and finally combines it with the case study of XH stock to verify the scientificity and reasonableness of the method, so as to more comprehensively reflect the comprehensive value of the enterprise.

In 2020, China proposed the “dual carbon” goals, demonstrating its firm determination to follow a green, low-carbon and high-quality development path that prioritizes ecological conservation. In the process of promoting and achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, the IT manufacturing industry, as an emerging technology manufacturing sector, plays an important role in China's strategy to promote green and low-carbon development in manufacturing. This paper integrates the Analytic hierarchy Process (AHP) and the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method, and based on the green supply chain theory, the “dual carbon” goals and theories, as well as the current “dual carbon” development status of China's IT manufacturing industry, constructs a performance evaluation index system for the green supply chain of IT manufacturing enterprises from the “dual carbon” perspective. Tsinghua Tongfang Co., Ltd. was selected as the research object for field investigation. IT was found that the company's overall evaluation of green supply chain performance in the IT manufacturing industry was “very satisfactory”. The results of this study can provide some theoretical reference for IT manufacturing enterprises to build a green supply chain evaluation system.

Guided by the "Dual Carbon" strategic goals, this study focuses on the ESG practices of Baijiu enterprises. By synthesizing literature reviews and industry practices, an industry-specific ESG evaluation indicator system is constructed. The research deconstructs the unique ESG practices of the Baijiu industry in areas such as carbon emission reduction, energy consumption, intangible cultural heritage inheritance, and cultural recognition. An evaluation framework is established, comprising 3 first-level indicators, 12 second-level indicators, and 48 third-level indicators, with innovative additions such as "cooling water recycling rate" and "distillers’ grains resource utilization rate." The system addresses compatibility between industry-specific characteristics and universal ESG frameworks, emphasizing carbon footprint tracking in production processes, fulfillment of social responsibilities, and preservation of traditional cultural values. The findings provide a tailored assessment tool for the sustainable development of Baijiu enterprises and serve as a reference for ESG standard formulation in both the Baijiu industry and other sectors.

With the formulation of the dual-carbon target, various industries are actively responding and proposing corresponding carbon reduction measures. In this context, as an important part of energy consumption, the decarbonization of power grid enterprises is particularly critical. This study aims to deeply analyze the current situation of carbon emissions of power grid enterprises, and based on this, a comprehensive carbon emission evaluation index system was established to fully consider carbon emissions. For this index system, this paper uses the weight calculation method of AHP-entropy weight based on the data collected from multiple power grid enterprises through survey, and applies an example analysis to verify the validity of the method. This study not only deepens the understanding of the decarbonization of power grid enterprises in theory, but also provides important theoretical and methodological support for the realization of the dual-carbon goal, which is of great theoretical and practical significance.

. The construction of key indicators for carbon credit evaluation not only affects the implementation of financial institutions' support for the dual carbon goals, but also has a significant impact on the construction of China's carbon market, the achievement of the dual carbon goals, and the green development of the economy and society. This article is based on enterprise energy data and designs key indicators for enterprise carbon credit evaluation through data such as production energy efficiency, carbon emissions, and carbon efficiency levels, to more accurately reflect the true credit status of the enterprise. By constructing a more comprehensive carbon credit evaluation method and system, enterprise carbon credit evaluation can accurately reflect the changes in credit status of various enterprises in the process of achieving carbon neutrality goals and carbon market construction. It provides scientific and feasible credit evaluation tools for financial institutions, investment institutions, local governments, etc., and helps China achieve the "dual carbon" goals and promote green economic and social development.

The carbon account is a digital path for an enterprise to achieve low-carbon transformation and high-quality sustainable development under the ‘dual carbon’ strategy. The carbon account has a good social effect while generating economic benefits. An evaluation index system of the social effects of enterprise carbon accounts has been established, including the concepts of energy conservation and carbon reduction, contributions, technological innovation, and customer trust. In view of the difficulty of quantifying the evaluation indicators of the social effects of enterprise carbon accounts and the requirement of effect equalization, a variable-weight CFPR fuzzy VIKOR evaluation model was constructed. Compared with the traditional fuzzy VIKOR model, the variable-weight CFPR fuzzy VIKOR model can solve the problem of quantifying indicators and realize the balance between indicators. This method can better compare and analyze the social effects of each enterprise’s carbon accounts and provides a basis for overall carbon account construction and digging improvement space.

: Accelerating the utilization of green and clean energy is the main development trend in the energy field of the "dual carbon" era. As a green and zero-carbon energy, biomass energy is of great significance to the improvement of Chinese energy structure and the guarantee of energy security. Combining with biomass energy industry characteristics, this paper establishes a biomass enterprise growth evaluation index system containing the capacity of profit, operation, compensation, development and innovation. Taking Chant Group as an example, the paper objectively evaluate the development characteristic during 2012 to 2021 with the entropy method, especially the influence of “dual carbon” strategy on enterprise growth. The research results have a certain role in promoting the sustainable development of biomass energy enterprises in China in the "dual carbon" era.

With the development of the world economy and the severe situation of environmental pollution, the concept of corporate responsibility has shifted from traditional economic growth to a comprehensive perspective of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). Under China's "high-quality development" and "dual carbon" strategies, corporate ESG performance has increasingly become an important evaluation indicator to measure a company's sustainable development capacity and long-term investment value. This paper analyzes the internal and external driving factors for the improvement of corporate ESG performance. External driving factors include policies, industry norm constraints, external attention, and industrial chains, while internal driving factors include the company's own scale, technological innovation, talent support, and executive characteristics.

Introduction China's coastal manufacturing industry is fundamental to advancing national ecological modernization. Its effective green transition is critical for attaining sustainable development. This study investigates the key elements of this industry's green development, operating within the context of a dual-carbon circular economy, and assesses its current progress. Methods A multilayered evaluation framework was developed using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). This methodology was employed to identify and prioritize crucial factors influencing the green development of the coastal manufacturing industry. Furthermore, the study systematically examined the multidimensional impacts of three principal AHP-derived factors on the industry's quality of green development. Results The analysis indicates a consistent improvement in the overall quality of green development within the industry. However, the findings also highlight several significant challenges. Specifically, there is an urgent requirement to bolster the green system, a need to fully leverage the transformative capabilities of green innovation, and a necessity to address the inconsistent pace of green transformation observed across different regions. Discussion The steady enhancement in green development quality is a positive trend, yet the identified challenges underscore areas requiring immediate attention and strategic intervention. To expedite the green transformation of the manufacturing sector, it is recommended that enterprises refine their green development strategies by capitalizing on their unique strengths. Simultaneously, government agencies should amplify their policy support and resource allocation to foster and steer this transition toward achieving China's broader ecological and sustainable development objectives.

: Drawing on the resource-based view and the core competence perspective, this paper constructs an innovative evaluation index system for the low-carbon competitiveness of listed paper-making firms. Using publicly available data for 30 listed paper-making companies from 2019 to 2021, we build a combined weighting model based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and the entropy weight method to obtain indicator weights and assess firms’ low-carbon competitiveness. The results show that: (1) the overall level of low-carbon competitiveness among listed paper-making firms is relatively low, with large disparities across firms; (2) most leading firms lag in environmental competitiveness and have weak awareness of low-carbon management. While pursuing large-scale growth, they tend to overlook sustainable development, indicating that listed paper-making firms are still primarily driven by economic interests. Finally, the paper provides targeted policy and managerial recommendations.

: In the context of global energy structure transformation and the advancement of the "dual carbon" goals, the new energy vehicle industry has become a core area driving the development of the green economy. The performance of leading enterprises holds crucial exemplary significance for the green transformation of the industry. Conducting a triple bottom line performance evaluation on enterprise A not only enables a comprehensive understanding of the enterprise's development status, providing a scientific basis for strategic decision-making, but also offers a reference for the sustainable development of the new energy vehicle industry, possessing significant theoretical and practical significance. By continuously improving the performance evaluation system, strengthening performance analysis and application, enterprise A is expected to further enhance its sustainable development capabilities, consolidate its leading position in the industry, and make greater contributions to the green transformation and high-quality development of the global new energy vehicle industry.

With the proposal of national carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets, green supply chain management has become one of the important means of reducing carbon emissions. Based on elaborating on the connotation of new quality productivity, this article analyzes the supplier selection problem of pharmaceutical enterprises under the dual carbon target. A pharmaceutical supplier evaluation index system has been established from five aspects related to low-carbon and environmental protection, including technological innovation, research and development capabilities, digitization, intelligent production, environmental protection technology, and so on, with five primary indicators and 18 secondary indicators. Secondly, a game theory combination weighting method combining the G1 method and entropy weight method is used to determine the weights of indicators. A pharmaceutical supplier evaluation model is established by combining the matter element extension model. A company is used as an example to evaluate its 8 candidate suppliers and select the best supplier. Finally, corresponding measures are proposed to promote the healthy and sustainable development of pharmaceutical enterprises.

Under the ongoing advancement of global sustainable development strategies and China's “dual carbon” goals, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors have become key dimensions for evaluating corporate long-term value and overall competitiveness. However, current ESG information disclosure still suffers from inconsistent standards, insufficient intelligent processing, and limited quantification, making it difficult to effectively support corporate green transformation and data-driven decision-making. To address these challenges, this study constructs an intelligent ESG disclosure and performance evaluation system oriented toward the dual-carbon strategy, based on a combination of the Entropy Weight Method (EWM) and the Mutation Series Method (MSM). Methodologically, the framework first establishes a systematic evaluation model consisting of 32 indicators across four dimensions—financial, environmental, social, and governance. Second, the EWM is applied to assign objective weights, ensuring scientific and balanced importance distribution. Finally, MSM is used to integrate multidimensional indicators into a dynamic evaluation model of overall ESG performance. Using Hang Lung Group's data from 2019 to 2023 as a case study, the empirical results show that the company performs strongly in the environmental dimension, exhibits a “V-shaped recovery” in financial performance, and achieves steady improvements in both social and governance dimensions. These findings demonstrate that the proposed system effectively captures the dynamic evolution of corporate ESG performance and provides a quantitative foundation and decision-making reference for green transformation under the dual-carbon strategy. The main innovation of this study lies in combining quantitative weighting with mutation modeling, offering a new approach for aligning corporate economic growth with environmental protection toward synergistic and sustainable development.

This study investigates the influence of corporate carbon neutrality strategies on sustainable development capabilities, focusing on the heterogeneous effects arising from disparate resource configurations. Utilizing panel regression analysis on data from firms listed on China's A‐share market between 2018 and 2022, we find that carbon neutrality strategies significantly enhance corporate sustainable development capabilities, and the positive impact is more pronounced in firms with higher board human capital, greater knowledge‐sharing practices, and superior business credit. Moreover, further analysis reveals that the favorable effect of carbon neutrality strategies on sustainable development capabilities is amplified in highly polluting industries, firms in the growth stage, and firms characterized by a strong Confucian cultural orientation. This study advances the understanding of firm‐level carbon neutrality strategies by enriching the Resource‐Based View (RBV) theoretical framework and provides practical insights into the field of environmental sustainability.

: Carbon-neutral policy has always been a main goal of the Chinese government, and airlines across the country are important players to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality as airlines has been one of the major polluters across various industries. As the country tightens its environmental regulations and strives for carbon neutrality by 2060, the airline has gradually implemented strategies to align with these goals. Where they have adopted more fuel-efficient aircraft, investment in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and the implementation of carbon offset programs. Additionally, Xiamen Airlines has also strengthened its corporate culture by promoting sustainability training for employees and engaging passengers in eco-friendly initiatives. The paper would mainly focus on the actions Xiamen airline has done and compare with other airlines, making economic interpretations to see the potential cost and benefits as well as giving out advice on what they can done.

This study examines how corporate green cognition affects sustainable performance under China's dual-carbon agenda, analyzing manufacturing sector data. Results show environmental factors exert stronger impacts than resource factors on financial/environmental outcomes. Green product innovation mediates financial performance, while green technological innovation mediates environmental gains. Government subsidies intensify cognition's effect on innovation adoption. Ownership heterogeneity reveals environmental factors differentially influence state-owned versus private enterprises. The findings advance sustainable development theory by elucidating cognition–innovation–performance mechanisms, offering practical strategies for aligning manufacturing practices with carbon neutrality goals through optimized green cognition frameworks and targeted policy interventions.

With the implementation of the “dual carbon” policy, the goals of carbon peak and carbon neutrality have become important goals of the world’s automotive industry today. As an electric car manufacturer, Tesla’s development process and strategic decisions largely reflect the important principles of current corporate sustainable development. This paper systematically analyzes Tesla’s sustainable development practices from the perspective of environment, society and corporate governance (ESG). First, from the perspective of environmental protection, by promoting emission-free electric vehicles, Tesla has achieved great results in reducing its carbon footprint, and has made remarkable achievements in innovation in the field of renewable energy. Secondly, this paper analyzes Tesla’s performance in social responsibility, including customer service and safety, attention to employee rights and interests, and participation in social welfare. Thirdly, this paper evaluates the characteristics of Tesla’s corporate governance system, such as risk control, board diversity, and transparency of information disclosure. Finally, this paper proposes key areas that Tesla needs to pay attention to in the process of further promoting sustainable development, and provides suggestions for its future strategic planning. Generally, this paper strives to comprehensively evaluate Tesla’s sustainable development practices from the perspective of ESG and provide valuable reference experience for other companies.

Against the backdrop of the accelerating global carbon neutrality process and the increasingly prominent trend of green transformation, the logistics industry, as a high-energy-consuming and high-carbon-emitting sector, is facing significant pressure to reduce emissions. SF Express, as a leading comprehensive logistics service provider in China, has set clear carbon reduction targets and adopted ESG governance in multiple business segments such as express delivery, cold chain, and international business, making it a typical subject for research. This paper examines SF Express as a case study to investigate the interrelationship between its ESG governance and the companys sustainable development strategy. Regarding research methodology, this paper integrates literature analysis with case study methods to thoroughly examine the specific measures implemented by SF Express at both the strategic and governance levels. The findings indicate that SF Express has effectively advanced corporate sustainable development through ESG governance, strengthened its sense of responsibility and operational capacity, while also providing a valuable benchmark for the green transformation of the logistics industry.

In the context of global climate change, green and low-carbon development has emerged as an international consensus. China has established a dual-carbon target, aiming for carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060, thereby necessitating the green transformation of high-energy-consuming and high-emission industries. As a major carbon emitter, the construction industry needs novel development models to achieve sustainable development. The circular economy concept aligns well with steel structures, noted for their energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, recyclability, and high assembly efficiency. And this is a crucial pathway for the sustainable transformation of the building sector. This paper selects a typical steel structure enterprise in Zibo, Shandong Province as the research target. The corporate sustainability report and financial data from 2019 to 2023 employ the mutation level method to evaluate the impact on the enterprises economic performance, green performance, and operational performance across dimensions such as technological innovation, R&D investment, environmental protection expenditures, policy environment, and human resource allocation. The results show that the enterprise, under the guidance of the policy and its own strategic adjustment, has achieved remarkable results in its green transformation and continued to improve its performance indicators, while revealing the key paths of resource allocation optimization and green innovation.

: Under the synergistic drive of China's "Dual Carbon" strategy and macro-control policies such as "housing is for living, not speculation" and the "three red lines" regulation, the real estate industry faces dual challenges and opportunities in green transformation and sustainable development. As a pillar of the national economy, real estate enterprises urgently need to resolve contradictions and bottlenecks in low-carbon transition through management innovation and technological upgrading. This study systematically examines the intrinsic connection between carbon neutrality goals and the real estate sector, revealing practical challenges including carbon footprint measurement deficiencies, green technology application gaps, intensified financing constraints, and policy adaptation dilemmas. The research proposes a multidimensional implementation framework: Strengthening corporate awareness of green transition while establishing a carbon-neutral business ecosystem; enhancing carbon accounting capabilities and energy efficiency through technological innovation, complemented by carbon offset and compensation mechanisms; deepening ESG practices to reduce debt financing costs, with empirical evidence demonstrating that improved ESG ratings significantly optimize credit asset structures under green finance policies. Furthermore, the study outlines actionable pathways such as low-carbon building standards and green supply chain management, aligning with macro-control objectives. These findings provide theoretical support for real estate enterprises to balance regulatory compliance with market opportunities, formulate carbon reduction strategies, and accelerate the realization of China's "Dual Carbon" vision through industry-wide sustainable transformation.

This paper briefly discusses the challenges of the modern energy industry and mechanisms for reducing anthropogenic impact. Methods, mechanisms and technologies of sustainable development of the energy industry, reduction of anthropogenic impact, reduction of the impact of greenhouse gases, climate and carbon neutrality are described. Economic mechanisms of technological regulation of the market of greenhouse and carbon quotas, as well as methods of carbon emission and stimulation of low-carbon technologies (in the energy sector) are presented. Examples and cases of Russian companies in this direction, mechanisms for changing the company's policy in the field of environmental protection and climate change are described. The fundamental framework of domestic companies in the field of climate conservation is presented. The related organizational changes, management and corporate policy adjustments, and restructuring in the business model of the company on the way to intensive low-carbon technologies are described.

Under the constraints of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality targets, corporate emission reduction is shifting from fragmented governance toward integrated governance that aligns pollution control with carbon reduction and long-term sustainable development. New energy transition policies have become a key instrument for restructuring urban energy, environmental, and economic systems, yet it remains unclear how these macro-level policies reshape firms’ marginal abatement cost–benefit structures and under what governance conditions they generate the synergy within corporate pollution reduction, rather than merely shifting burdens. It is valuable to identify whether, how, and under which governance conditions new energy demonstration city policies enhance the synergy between corporate pollution reduction and carbon mitigation. Guided by system synergy theory and a marginal abatement cost perspective, we use panel data on listed firms to construct a synergy index that jointly reflects multiple pollutant emissions and abatement costs, capturing both environmental effectiveness and economic efficiency. A DID model based on the staggered rollout of new energy demonstration cities is then employed to estimate the policy’s impact on the synergy between corporate pollution reduction and carbon mitigation and its contextual conditions. The results show the following: (1) Inclusion in a new energy demonstration city significantly increases the synergy within corporate pollution reduction. (2) Mechanism analysis indicates that higher municipal attention to green and environmental development and higher corporate ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance strengthen the positive policy influence. (3) Heterogeneous effects are mainly concentrated in non-energy intensive industries, state-owned enterprises, and small firms, which indicates structural divergence in policy incentives across different types of firms. Overall, this study enriches the studies about the synergy between pollution reduction and carbon mitigation to the firm level, embeds a marginal abatement cost perspective into synergy measurement, and provides an evaluative framework that is consistent with how firms balance environmental and financial objectives. The findings contribute to the sustainability literature by informing the design and assessment of energy transition policies and by offering evidence to refine new energy demonstration city programs so that limited governance resources are directed toward more cost-effective joint gains.

Abstract Under the development of low carbon economy with the goal of “carbon neutrality”, high-emission enterprises are facing more severe pressure of energy saving and emission reduction, and how to build and corporate payroll performance management system becomes the key to corporate carbon compliance. And in the green finance-assisted green low-carbon sustainable development has become the development direction, (Environmental-Social-Governance, ESG) evaluation system has also increasingly highlighted its importance, the ESG evaluation system as the leading investment concept in the international has been the mainstream. This paper analyzes the problems of enterprise compensation management system, constructs an optimization model of enterprise compensation management based on Genetic Algorithm-Back Propagation (GA-BP) neural network, and proposes measures to optimize enterprise compensation in the context of ESG performance, taking into account the current international enterprise economic policy background. The study proposes policy recommendations to promote the implementation of green and sustainable development concepts and policies during the 14th Five-Year Plan period, and effectively addresses the adaptation of ESG and corporate compensation management under the goal of carbon neutrality.

Against the backdrop of the theory of sustainable development and the dramatic increase in global carbon emissions, China has put forward a "dual carbon" goal (Carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals) in 2020, aiming to reduce carbon emissions. This paper analyzes the corporate decision-making and performance of enterprise in power sector under the policies of carbon reduction by selecting Huaneng International as a case study. This research finds that the carbon reduction policy can promote enterprise to limit carbon emission and deepen energy reform in the power industry. Further analysis shows that a positive response to carbon reduction can enrich the energy structure of the company and increase revenues in other ways, thus improving the net operating profit of the company. At the same time, enriching the ESG performance of enterprises is conducive to improving corporate reputation and financing. The case study in this paper not only can inspire Huaneng International to pay attention to weighing corporate benefits while responding to carbon emission reduction, but also for the regulator to strengthen the supervision of carbon emission reduction support financial tools and other support policies to avoid loophole behavior. In the meanwhile, it can also provide relevant reference and inspiration for the power or other industries.

: With the challenges posed by global climate change, the dual-carbon strategy (carbon peak and carbon neutrality) has become a global focus. This paper explores how enterprises can effectively manage and provide comprehensive services for carbon assets in the context of the dual-carbon strategy. By analyzing current environmental policies, market demands, and technological advancements, the paper proposes a series of practical management strategies and methods. These strategies not only contribute to achieving carbon reduction goals but also enhance the market competitiveness and sustainable development capabilities of enterprises.

Under the policy promotion of China’s “dual carbon” goals (peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality), carbon asset management has become a key link in corporate strategic transformation. This article aims to explore the concept, importance, and role of carbon asset management in achieving sustainable development goals. Firstly, the concept of carbon assets is sorted out and its definition, classification, and management connotation are discussed. Secondly, by comparing and analyzing the current situation and problems of carbon asset management at home and abroad, the main challenges of carbon asset management in China are summarized. Finally, through the study and analysis of specific cases, innovative strategies for carbon asset management based on the “dual

With global pressure to limit carbon emissions, and drive industry towards sustainable development, organizations are now faced with the twin imperatives of driving carbon literacy, harnessing digitalized human resource management, and inculcating green employee behaviors as key steps towards responsible and competitive manufacturing. In response, organizations around the world are integrating sustainability principles into their operational and human resource systems in order to respond to tighter ESG expectations and stakeholder demands. Despite these global efforts regarding sustainable development, little is known about the extent to which internal awareness, the digitalization of human resource management (DHRM; algorithmic evaluations, behavior tracking, data‐driven decision systems), and the orientation towards sustainability in strategies jointly contribute to environmentally responsible behavior at the employee level. This study examines the impact of carbon footprint awareness (CFA), DHRM practices, and green business strategy (GBS) on green workplace behavior (GWB) and improves firm environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. Using a time‐lagged design and data from 319 manufacturing firms collected over three survey waves, the results show that both CFA and DHRM have a significant influence on GWB, which, in turn, has a positive impact on ESGP. Moreover, GBS enhances the influence of CFA and DHRM on GWB by highlighting that it serves as a strategic enabler, aligning the behavior of employees with sustainability objectives. This research contributes to the existing knowledge in the field of sustainable human resource management by analyzing the role of both CFA and DHRM in developing GWB to enhance the ESG performance (ESGP) of firms in the manufacturing sector. Managerial implications are provided for organizations that are considering integrating sustainability into workforce systems and organizational practices.

With the goal of carbon peaking, low-carbon green development has become the main theme of economic development. In this context, while pursuing economic benefits, it is also necessary to take into account environmental benefits. Industrial development policies and matching funding strategies related to low-carbon green are called for, and sustainable economic strategies will make the industry move forward steadily. On the basis of foreign scholars' research on green bonds and industrial ESG, this project is based on the new energy industry, organizing and researching the information disclosed by its ESG, exploring in depth the influence of this information on the issuance of green bonds by the new energy industry, and exploring whether there is any positivity in this influence. The ESG information disclosed by the new energy industry can, on the one hand, help investors better understand ESG governance and the green bond market in the new energy industry, and guide them to make rational investments; on the other hand, it can help the government better formulate policies to improve the perfection of the green bond-related standards, including the evaluation system and certification system, as well as the quality of the industry's information disclosure.

Against the backdrop of global efforts to address climate change, the dual carbon goals have emerged as a critical development directive for nations worldwide. The textile industry, as a traditional yet significant sector within the global economy, has faced considerable environmental and social challenges. The Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework has offered a novel perspective for enterprises seeking sustainable development across these three dimensions. This study integrated data from publicly listed textile companies in China spanning the years 2009 to 2023, incorporating ESG scores derived from the Huazheng Evaluation System. It conducted a comprehensive analysis of the influence of ESG performance on textile green export activity within the context of the dual carbon objectives. Through both theoretical exploration and empirical testing, the study revealed the underlying mechanisms at play. The findings indicated that strong ESG performance could enhance textile firms’ green export competitiveness by improving corporate reputation and alleviating financing constraints. Furthermore, empirical results confirmed a significant positive correlation between ESG performance and green export scale in the textile sector. This research provides both theoretical support and practical guidance for textile enterprises aiming to enhance their green export capabilities through improved ESG practices under the dual carbon goals.

Under the background of implementing "carbon peak and carbon neutrality" targets, the ESG performance of enterprises has attracted the attention from the public. This study selects Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2019 as samples, constructs an ESG evaluation system using the entropy method and AHP method, and investigates the impact of the legal environment on corporate ESG performance and the moderating role of social trust through multiple regression models. The study finds that a well-developed legal environment promotes corporate ESG performance, and the synergistic effect of social trust and the legal environment significantly enhances ESG performance. Further research reveals that the positive effect of the legal system on corporate ESG performance is stronger in resource-based cities and economically underdeveloped regions. Industry heterogeneity analysis further shows that companies in resource-based and traditional heavy industries experience more significant improvements in ESG performance under the influence of the legal environment. The findings enrich the research on the factors influencing corporate ESG performance and provide strategic guidance for promoting corporate sustainable development.

Regulators have pointed to Scope 3 carbon intensity metrics as a comprehensive measure of a firm’s climate risk profile. However, it has long been recognized that the calculation of Scope 3 emissions is difficult and costly. In this article, we propose a simple and intuitive approach to calculating the emissions resulting from a company’s base of suppliers. Our model can be supplementary to Scope 3 metrics when the latter is not readily available. Empirical tests suggest that the proposed metric makes a statistically significant contribution in explaining the outputs of conventional approaches, in addition to those from Scope 1 and Scope 2 measures. Furthermore, our model offers a flexible framework for evaluating other types of environmental, social, and governance risks embedded in a firm’s value chain.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficiency of transforming financial resources into environmental, social, and governance (ESG) results by German companies in the Industrial Machinery and Equipment sector from 2018 to 2022 through Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) application. Design/methodology/approach: This study applies DEA to assess the efficiency of companies in the M&E sector, using data from the Refinitiv platform for the 2018–2022 period. The analysis is framed in the resource-based view (RBV) theory and incorporates qualitative benchmarking through Porter’s Five Forces framework. Findings: Nordex SE and SGL Carbon SE emerged as ESG efficiency benchmarks despite financial constraints, while Siemens AG stood out as a sectoral reference due to its market leadership, consistent performance, and strong integration of sustainability into corporate strategy. Research limitations/implications: The study is limited by its five-year scope, which includes the Covid-19 pandemic period, and by its focus solely on German companies, potentially limiting broader applicability. Practical implications: The study identifies practices and performance patterns among leading firms that can inform ESG-related decision-making in the industrial machinery and equipment sector. Originality/value: This study introduces a novel approach by combining DEA alongside qualitative analyses to benchmark and assess ESG-driven competitive advantages, offering an innovative perspective on the effective allocation of financial resources toward ESG objectives in the M&E sector.

As China advances its sustainable development initiatives, listed express delivery companies have begun to regularly disclose ESG information. Using ESG report data from seven listed express delivery companies in China from 2016 to 2023 as a sample, this study combines text analysis and corporate profiling methods to construct an indicator system from two dimensions: quality and content. The TOPSIS-entropy weighting method is employed to comprehensively evaluate the industry's ESG information disclosure performance, and visualization techniques are used to analyze differences between companies. This provides theoretical foundations and practical guidance for the industry's low-carbon transformation and sustainable development.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) cement industry is a vital contributor to national development, but faces significant sustainability challenges due to high energy consumption, carbon emissions, and resource depletion. This study aims to identify and prioritise critical success factors (CSF) that drive sustainability adoption in the sector using the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP). Through a mixed-method approach integrating literature review, expert opinions and stakeholder inputs, CSF are categorised into environmental, social and economic dimensions. The study employs advanced statistical tools, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for factor identification, Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) and Bartlett’s tests for data adequacy, Cronbach’s alpha for reliability assessment, the relative importance index (RII) for ranking CSF, and the Kruskal–Wallis test for hypothesis validation. Key findings highlight several important sustainability enablers, such as waste recycling technology used (ENV3), demand for green/sustainable products (SOC1), Lean Six Sigma (LSS) tools and methods that are assigned to solve problems that arise (ECO4). The research provides a strategic roadmap for industry leaders and policymakers, aligning sustainability efforts with the UAE’s green economy vision. While the study focuses on the UAE cement industry, findings offer broader implications for similar industries globally. However, reliance on expert inputs may introduce subjectivity, and future research should incorporate real-time industry data for enhanced validation. By leveraging FAHP and robust statistical analysis, this study delivers a comprehensive framework to facilitate sustainability adoption, enhance decision-making and contribute to long-term environmental and economic resilience in cement manufacturing. This article offers valuable, real-world insights to guide the UAE cement industry towards a more sustainable future. First, by identifying and prioritising CSFs such as waste recycling technologies and LSS tools, it provides a guide for regulators to create focused policies and incentives that encourage the most impactful sustainability practices. Second, the clear ranking of these factors gives UAE cement companies a benchmark for assessing their progress across all three pillars of sustainability. Finally, the study highlights the necessity for UAE cement industry practitioners to prioritise operational improvements using LSS tools and robust, real-time resource monitoring. This study advances sustainability literature by integrating the FAHP with empirical statistical validation, offering a rigorous method for prioritising CSF in industrial sustainability. It contributes to a structured framework that bridges multi-criteria decision-making theory with practical implementation strategies, particularly within resource-intensive sectors like cement manufacturing.

Governments worldwide are taking actions to address the construction sector's sustainability concerns, including high carbon emissions, health and safety risks, low productivity, and increasing costs. Applying Industry 4.0 technologies to construction (also referred to as Construction 4.0) could address some of these concerns. However, current understanding about this is quite limited, with previous work being largely fragmented and limited both in terms of technologies as well as their interrelationships with the triple bottom line of sustainability perspectives. The focus of this article is therefore on addressing these gaps by proposing a comprehensive multi-dimensional Construction 4.0 sustainability framework that identifies and categorizes the key Construction 4.0 technologies and their positive and negative impacts on environmental, economic, and social sustainability, and then establishing its applicability/usefulness through an empirical, multimethodology case study assessment of the UAE's construction sector. The findings indicate Construction 4.0’s positive impacts on environmental and economic sustainability that far outweigh its negative effects, although these impacts are comparable with regards to social sustainability. On Construction 4.0 technologies itself, their application was found to be nonuniform with greater application seen for building information modeling and automation vis-à-vis others such as cyber-physical systems and smart materials, with significant growth expected in the future for blockchain- and three-dimensional-printing-related technologies. The proposed novel framework could enable the development of policy interventions and support mechanisms to increase Construction 4.0 deployment while addressing its negative sustainability-related impacts. The framework also has the potential to be adapted and applied to other country and sectoral contexts.

Abstract Sustainability reporting is a growing trend, driven by increasing environmental concerns, social change and public interest. It has emerged as a key tool for corporate transparency and accountability, particularly in high-impact industries such as electricity. Companies in the electricity sector face heightened expectations to disclose their sustainability performance due to their significant environmental footprint and strategic importance. The electricity sector has an important role to play in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the EU commitment to become CO2 neutral by 2050, This study examines reporting practices, focusing on the electricity sector’s commitment to sustainability and its alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using a mixed-methods approach, it identifies key areas of focus in sustainability reporting and challenges in the sector among Bulgarian companies. The findings indicate that sustainability reporting in the Bulgarian electricity sector is evolving, with companies increasingly aligning their disclosures with sustainability reporting regulations. Sustainability disclosures predominantly emphasise environmental sustainability, in line with carbon emission reduction, energy efficiency and renewable energy integration, as well as social issues related to employees. It was found that the key drivers of sustainability reporting include regulatory requirements, investor expectations and corporate social responsibility commitments, while challenges stem from data collection difficulties and lack of expertise. This research contributes to the literature by providing an in-depth assessment of sustainability reporting in the Bulgarian electricity sector. It fills a research gap and offers insights that improve our understanding of the dynamics of sustainability reporting in Bulgaria. In conclusion, while progress is evident, continuous improvement in sustainability reporting remains essential for the electricity sector’s transition to a more responsible and environmentally conscious future.

Sustainable manufacturing has emerged as a critical priority in addressing the complex environmental, social, and economic challenges of modern industry. This study focuses on the plywood sector, a significant contributor to manufacturing, which faces distinct sustainability issues such as high energy consumption, material inefficiencies, and hazardous working conditions. To address these challenges, the research introduces workload and noise level as critical indicators for assessing sustainability, broadening the scope of traditional evaluation methods. A multi-method framework was employed, integrating the Delphi technique to identify key sustainability indicators, the Best Worst Method (BWM) to assign weights to these indicators, and Sustainable Value Stream Mapping (S-VSM) paired with a Traffic Light System (TLS) to evaluate and visualize the Manufacturing Sustainability Score (MSS). Applied to a plywood manufacturing case study, the framework highlighted areas requiring improvement, particularly in worker well-being and operational safety, while demonstrating the industry's moderate overall efficiency. By offering actionable insights for improving resource use, operational processes, and employee conditions, this framework provides a practical tool for industry managers aiming to enhance sustainability. Furthermore, its adaptability makes it a valuable reference for other manufacturing sectors seeking to implement resource-efficient and sustainable practices. This research not only fills critical gaps in sustainability assessment but also contributes to advancing industry practices by emphasizing holistic and innovative approaches to manufacturing efficiency.

Waste from the perspective of lean manufacturing and sustainability has a huge influence on economic, environmental, and societal aspects. The inefficiency of the current manufacturing systems poses a huge risk to small and medium size sawmills going out of business as current prices of fossil fuel and associated emissions continue to rise at an alarming rate. In this case study, a local sawmill has been investigated to improve process efficiency using sustainable value stream mapping in the context of Fiji. The produced timber with the highest demand is selected as the product and a complete assessment is done on the downstream operation to compile data and develop the current state map. The current state map incorporates sustainability pillars to address the lacking factors such as energy and water consumption, raw material usage, labor physical load, and workspace noise level along with standard lean manufacturing time-based metrics. Sustainable value stream mapping allowed the research team along with a panel of experts to identify processor 2 as the root cause of bottlenecking, unnecessary material movement/transportation, and high physical load index score. Implementing a multi-blade horizontal bandsaw in place of processor 2 reduces; energy consumption for transport, energy consumption for processing, VAT, NVAT, process water consumption, raw material usage, and carbon emission by; 34.9%, 8.72%, 6.37%, 20%, 24.71%, 3.05%, and 10.33% respectively without compromising productivity. The findings of this research suggest evaluating and assessing sustainability performance using Sus-VSM in the sawmill industry unveils potential economic, environmental, and societal benefits.

In the context of carbon neutrality, the oil and gas industry is facing increasingly stringent environmental regulatory pressures, posing severe challenges to enterprise sustainability development. This study proposes a new comprehensive calculation model to investigate the effects of low-carbon transformation and development of petrochemical enterprises in recent years. It can effectively quantify the relative efficiency of different samples in the same time interval and the efficiency change of a single sample in the time series. It can also perform individual assessments of operational or environmental levels for a more comprehensive analysis perspective. Furthermore, the study included the enterprises' carbon footprint of scope 3 in the calculation framework for the first time makes the study results more realistic and forward-looking in reflecting the enterprises’ green management level. The model has been applied to 32 international oil and gas production and refining enterprises. The differences where the companies are located, the types of companies, and the value chain show different efficiency characteristics.In sum, the study results show that the petrochemical industry is actively implementing a low-carbon development strategy and will continue to do so. In the context of the expansion of petrochemical products, the refining field should receive more attention.

No abstract available

The transition to sustainable supply chains is crucial in the face of the global climate crisis. Many industries are adopting closed-loop frameworks to enhance sustainability, yet significant uncertainties remain regarding the practical application of the 3R (reduction, reutilization, and recycling) principles in supply chains and their effectiveness. Moreover, a standardized method for measuring product-level sustainability is lacking, with various approaches offering differing evaluations. The closed-loop framework plays a key role in reducing environmental impacts by optimizing recycling and material reutilization, which in turn minimizes waste, reduces resource extraction, and lowers carbon emissions. The Material Circularity Indicator (MCI) stands out as a proven and reliable method for assessing product-level sustainability. This research leverages FlexSim simulations to explore the uncertainties of implementing the closed-loop model in EV supply chains and to assess product sustainability using the MCI, providing organizations with a comprehensive tool for advancing sustainability in the EV industry.

With the advent of the post-industrial era, the rapid development of e-commerce has propelled the logistics industry to become the lifeline of the national economy, supporting the orderly flow of resource elements between cities. However, the concerning issues of excessive energy consumption and low logistics efficiency in the transportation process have come to the forefront. The introduction of China’s dual-carbon policy goals indicates that enhancing regional logistics’ green and low-carbon efficiency is key to solving the global logistic sustainability problem. Nowadays, the logistics sector’s efficiency in producing green and low-carbon emissions has been quantified using an input-output measurement index. Using data from 2008 to 2020 from the dynamic panel of the logistics sector in the urban agglomerations of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, the three-stage SBM-DEA and Malmquist index quantitative evaluation models are selected to estimate the logistic green and low-carbon development efficiency comprehensively. The analysis discovered that green and low-carbon logistics in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan agglomeration are relatively efficient overall, and the urban siphon effect of Beijing and Tianjin is noticeable. Once the impact of environmental variables and random errors is eliminated, it becomes evident that these factors tend to inflate the overall technical efficiency. Technical efficiency levels are the primary factor leading to regional logistics inefficiencies. Additionally, it is essential to note that scale efficiency positively affects urban development, leading to a rebound effect, summarizing the existing problems combined with the visualization map, and putting forward corresponding policy suggestions, which is of great practical significance.

In the wake of Industry 4.0, the ubiquitous internet of things provides big data to potentially quantify the environmental footprint of green products. Further, as the concept of Industry 5.0 emphasizes, the increasing mass customization production makes the product configurations full of individuation and diversification. Driven by these fundamental changes, the design for sustainability of a high-mix low-volume product–service system faces the increasingly deep coupling of technology-driven product solutions and value-driven human-centric goals. The multi-criteria decision making of sustainability issues is prone to fall into the complex, contradictory, fragmented, and opaque flood of information. To this end, this work presents a data-driven quantitative method for the sustainability assessment of product–service systems by integrating analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods to measure the sustainability of customized products and promote the Industry 5.0-enabled sustainable product–service system practice. This method translates the sustainability assessment into a multi-criteria decision-making problem, to find the solution that meets the most important criteria while minimizing trade-offs between conflicting criteria, such as individual preferences or needs and the life cycle sustainability of bespoke products. In the future, the presented method can extend to cover more concerns of Industry 5.0, such as digital-twin-driven recyclability and disassembly of customized products, and the overall sustainability and resilience of the supply chain.

The rapid expansion of the cosmetic products market, growing consumer eco-consciousness, and stricter packaging regulations, such as the PPWR, present significant challenges for the cosmetic industry. To assess the sustainability of cosmetic packaging, a benchmarking study was conducted across various product categories available in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland) using a set of selected indicators. The findings highlight an urgent need for action to ensure compliance with future PPWR requirements. While glass and aluminum packaging demonstrated high recyclability, plastic tubes often failed to meet the 70% recyclability target due to incompatible material combinations. Key barriers to recyclability included material incompatibility, metallization, and excessive colorization. Additionally, the use of recycled content in plastic and paper-based packaging was generally low, with only a few samples containing secondary materials. Other critical issues included packaging efficiency, the widespread use of secondary packaging, and use of uncertified renewable materials. Addressing these challenges will require industry-wide efforts to enhance material compatibility, increase recycled content, and optimize packaging design for greater sustainability.

Climate change and sustainable development have become critical global issues. The foodservice industry and its supply chain are among the sectors with high carbon emissions. As such, many foodservice businesses are actively implementing carbon reduction initiatives. This study established professional competence indicators for carbon-reducing culinary practices from a sustainability perspective. Using the Modified Delphi Method, 14 food service experts were invited to participate in a three-round survey questionnaire to develop a competency framework applicable to kitchen operations. The findings identified three major dimensions of carbon-reducing culinary professional competence: knowledge competence (19 indicators), attitude competence (13 indicators), and technical competence (13 indicators), totaling 45 indicators. Attitude competence was deemed the most critical, followed by knowledge competence. Regarding the attitude dimension, the most important indicators included selecting suppliers aligning with carbon reduction and sustainability goals, commitment to sustainability initiatives, green procurement, energy management, and water conservation practices. Understanding inventory preservation management regulations and principles was the most essential indicator in the knowledge dimension. In the technical dimension, using seasonal ingredients and accurately managing inventory levels were the key factors. The findings provide a reference for government agencies, the foodservice industry, and higher education institutions in promoting sustainable culinary development. Strengthening chefs’ awareness and competencies in carbon reduction is essential in advancing sustainability within the food supply chain.

The energy sector is a cornerstone of Viet Nam’s economic growth, providing critical contributions to development and employment. However, ensuring its long-term sustainability remains a pressing challenge. This study leverages the United Nations’ ESG framework to develop a comprehensive structure for sustainable management indicators tailored to Viet Nam’s energy industry. Through expert interviews and systematic analysis using the modified Delphi and DEMATEL methods, the study identified “Cost Management” as the most critical sustainability indicator, influencing other key areas. Additionally, “Innovation Management”, “Renewable Energy”, “Vocational Training”, and “Human Capital Development” emerged as pivotal for driving sustainability. These findings underscore the importance of aligning sustainability practices with operational efficiency and innovation. The study highlights the urgent need for energy companies to adopt targeted solutions such as cost optimization, investments in renewable technologies, and workforce development to foster sustainable growth. By offering actionable insights and a prioritized framework, this research provides energy companies and policymakers with a practical roadmap to enhance Viet Nam’s energy sustainability and support its economic recovery post-COVID-19.

The article presents the results of a study on the development of a scientific approach to assessing the sustainability of industrial enterprises in a particular region. The study proposes a new approach to selecting indicators for measuring the sustainability of these enterprises. This approach helps to identify the goals and objectives of the enterprises, as well as the social, environmental, and economic aspects of their operations. One of the main features of this approach is its focus on systematizing the key indicators of sustainability. This allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the components that contribute to sustainable development, and for the identification of specific indicators that are relevant to each component. This information can then be used to develop effective strategies for achieving sustainable growth and development for these enterprises. The approach under study contributes to the development of the main elements of the non-classical theory of sustainable development. This allows us to consider sustainability indicators as both factors and conditions for the development of priority areas. From a practical perspective, the studied approach to evaluating indicators should be seen as a tool for achieving sustainable economic growth. It allows for maintaining internal balance and dynamic equilibrium within regional enterprises, while rationally utilizing the region's resource potential. The focus is on ensuring a sufficient level of development indicators, taking into account both external and internal environmental influences.The advantages of quantitative evaluation indicators include the ability to choose a dynamic development path by quantifying all its components; minimizing factors associated with risk of loss; a high probability of sustainable development influencing enterprise profitability; an analytical base for operational monitoring of changes in sustainability indicators under uncertain conditions.

Growing concern for sustainability has driven industries, including the galvanic sector, to adopt more responsible practices due to their significant environmental and occupational impacts. This article discusses the importance of integrating quality, environmental, and occupational safety management (ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001) and highlights the need for specific indicators to measure sustainability in this sector. Using the Delphi technique, experts and workers from the galvanic industry identified and validated relevant performance indicators. The results improve management and performance, promoting the competitiveness and sustainability of the galvanic industry. The research identified 39 key indicators covering resource consumption, waste generation, occupational safety, governance, and quality. These indicators help companies monitor and enhance their socio-environmental performance, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices.

No abstract available

Addressing the sustainability issues arising from construction and demolition waste management (DWM) has gained little traction due to the lack of incentives, stringent regulations, and systematic guidance. This study aims to empower systematic decision-making concerning DWM alternative selection by developing a sustainability assessment framework by coupling a modified Delphi method with the multicriteria decision analysis technique. First, the study identifies a comprehensive inventory of indicators across three dimensions of sustainability in the context of DWM. Next, the study combines a modified Delphi method with the analytic hierarchy process to validate and prioritize the selected sustainability indicators. For the first time, insights regarding the DWM sustainability indicators from China’s construction industry practitioners’ perspectives are elicited using a mixed method comprising online semistructured interviews and two rounds of questionnaire surveys. Experts participating in the research are mostly based in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, where local governments exhaust all efforts in promoting carbon-neutral and sustainable development. The findings reveal that eight sustainability indicators were regarded as the determinants for the sustainability performance of DWM, with the global warming potential (32%), energy efficiency (16.1%) and land use (13.5%) receiving the highest preference scores (weights) based on the experts’ judgment. Notably, the economic factors like the total cost (6.54%) appeared not highly prioritized by the local experts as typically did in the previous studies from developing countries.

The increasing pressure for transparency in corporate sustainability reporting, especially under frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, has raised the need for sector-specific models to integrate financial, social, and environmental indicators coherently and measurably. This study proposes a composite econometric model to assess the sustainability performance of companies in the construction sector in a digital context, a domain that remains underexplored despite its substantial economic and environmental impact. Drawing on a sample of 1600 Romanian construction companies over ten years (2013–2023), this study develops a multidimensional sustainability score and tests its financial drivers using ordinary least squares regression models. The model incorporates nine financial structure variables as predictors of sustainability outcomes across three dimensions—financial, social, and environmental—while ensuring robustness through heteroscedasticity and multicollinearity diagnostics. The results show that indicators such as the return on assets, debt ratio, and equity structure significantly influence sustainability performance, particularly in the financial and environmental dimensions. In contrast, the social dimension exhibits lower explanatory power. The findings suggest that financial resilience plays a critical role in shaping sustainable practices in the construction industry and support the adoption of integrated models for performance benchmarking and policy alignment.

In the era of globalization, supply chains are becoming less transparent, facing pressing sustainability challenges such as the inappropriate use of natural resources, poor working conditions, and environmental degradation. This paper addresses these issues by presenting a pioneering sustainability assessment framework aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in global supply chains. Emerging from a systematic literature review and insights from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the framework comprises 91 robust performance indicators: 36 environmental and 55 social. These indicators, a mix of quantitative and semi-quantitative measures, provide a comprehensive tool for assessing the sustainability performance of supply chain actors across a range of sectors. The framework not only facilitates companies in measuring their own and their suppliers’ sustainability performance but also enhances their capacity to effectively communicate their environmental and social progress to stakeholders. Additionally, it is designed to seamlessly integrate with Industry 4.0 technologies, enabling more dynamic assessments.

This research aims to review the development of sustainability performance measurement indicators used around the world. The application of these indicators varies greatly because there is no standard that regulates sustainability performance measurement indicators. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is one of the guidelines for the implementation of Sustainability Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). However, it does not rule out the possibility of companies adopting other systematics that are widely developed, such as the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC). By conducting a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach, there are 8 articles as data in the study. Reference articles come from Scopus and Google Scholar database sources with restrictions on publication years 2019-2024. The selected articles discuss factors that become challenges and obstacles, measurement methods, and strategies for formulating sustainability performance indicators. The research results present a literature review of variations in sustainability performance measurement indicators applied to the private sector depend on the entity's objectives, strategies, and the interests of external parties or stakeholders.

The primary objective of this research is to analyze the interconnections among sustainability performance indicators within mining industries operating as Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Kerala, India. The study introduces a hierarchical model for performance metrics. Initially, performance indicators are identified through a comprehensive literature review. Subsequently, a thorough questionnaire-based survey is conducted within the mining and mineral industries in Kerala to pinpoint the significant indicators relevant to the sector. The research employs Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) and MICMAC techniques to construct a hierarchical structure, illustrating the complex relationships among these pivotal performance metrics. Input from department managers in the industry is gathered through interviews to contribute to the development of the ISM. The findings reveal that a majority of the indicators in this category exhibit substantial driving and influencing power while maintaining independence. Organizations can leverage the proposed model for policy formulation, enabling them to manage their resources more effectively and efficiently by following a coherent roadmap.

The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) face numerous environmental challenges encompassing resource and energy conservation; waste generation and disposal; water and air pollution; and so on. As a result, it becomes critical to implement policies, strategies, and technologies that can help in reducing the adverse impacts of manufacturing activities on the environment. In this context, the current study identified 15 critical environmental sustainability indicators to assess the impact of manufacturing activities on the environment by taking a case study of lock manufacturing MSMEs. To understand the interdependence among the selected indicators, the study further utilizes an integrated DEMATEL-MMDE-ISM approach to analyze the inputs of industry professionals. The results of the study highlighted that green product design, which facilitates the product to be disassembled, reused, or recycled and are free from hazardous materials, plays a significant role in enhancing the environmental sustainability of the concerned industry. Green product design significantly affects 12 other indicators out of 15 under consideration; thus, incorporating green practices in the design and development of a product leads to significant improvement in environmental sustainability. The study is expected to aid decision-makers (industry practitioners and academic researchers) to identify strategic areas in order to achieve higher environmental sustainability in manufacturing organizations.

According to recent estimates (Reuters), the cost of implementing the sustainable development goals of Agenda 2030 will be USD 176 trillion. This amount seems unattainable, even when considering the public resources currently available to governments that are part of the United Nations. It is undoubtedly necessary to involve the private financial sector, within the so-called finance for sustainable development. To achieve the SDGs, it may be also necessary to schedule local-level initiatives and actions that consider the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria, which can be used to source forms of private finance for sustainable development and contribute to the implementation of the SDGs. Based on these observations, this article deals with the study of clearly defined parameters: (1) the factors that should be considered when assessing the sustainability of a (local) real-estate project and, in particular, of a housing project, in order for the project to be considered sustainable and participate, albeit pro rata, in achieving one (or more) of the eleven SDG sub-goals; and (2) funding opportunities in the world of sustainable-development finance. The specific goal of the research contribution presented in this paper was to use the Delphi method to define a set of local-level evaluation criteria and indicators for real-estate projects, specifically housing projects, with an ESG matrix and in line with some of the SDG 11 targets, considering the Florence Metropolitan Area as a case study. The application of the Delphi method to the case study made it possible to test the usability of this method for the definition of the criteria and indicators, at the local level, for assessing the level of implementation of the SDGs. Specifically, a set of 48 criteria and 74 indicators were defined for assessing the consistency of housing projects with SDG 11 and ESG criteria.

Embedded within the sustainable development framework, our research leverages proceduralized grounded theory to refine and universalize supervisory governance capabilities, thereby aiming to assess the theoretical saturation of the resultant model and to devise a comprehensive, sustainability-inclusive index of supervisory board governance competence. Focusing on five publicly traded Chinese companies, the research employs a tripartite coding process integral to grounded theory methodologies. By methodically refining case studies, it identifies sustainability-oriented governance capacity indicators. Data are conceptualized and compartmentalized via open coding, then divided into five primary clusters via axial coding, resulting in sustainability-focused governance capacity indicators for supervisory boards. Using selective coding strategies, the study uncovers forty-two competency indicators pertinent to sustainable corporate governance, organized into three domains across eight sustainability-related dimensions. These include individual characteristics, sustainability value judgment, experiential wisdom, collaborative communication for sustainable practices, resource integration, general employment prerequisites, professional application in sustainability, and sustainable business acumen. The findings enhance supervisory board member selection and performance assessment processes, promoting sustainable corporate governance. They also clarify supervisory roles in sustainability, offering a holistic view of supervisory board internal governance mechanisms. By maintaining the objectivity of these indicators, the study advances the field.

Associative enterprises linked to the social economy continue to be an important economic alternative for small producers, generating decent work opportunities for people excluded from the formal labour market and contributing to sustainable development. The social and economic importance of this type of initiative has prompted several scientific publications on its success factors, leaving a gap in its practicality, raising the question: How can success factors of associative productive ventures be integrated into management indicators that promote their organisational sustainability? The aim is to define and prioritise management indicators that promote associative productive ventures through the analysis of key success factors. This study was carried out using a combination of BSC management methodology and AHP multicriteria decision making, based on a bibliographic review of success factors and the criteria of experts including managers of consolidated production associations in Quito-Ecuador. The results show that the indicators of participatory leadership, technical training and labour integration are the most relevant in the consolidation of associative productive ventures, prompting the conclusion that the prioritisation and integration of business and social management indicators would boost the organisational sustainability of associative ventures.

The balancing of sustainability dimensions is the prime agenda of supply chain organisations. The supply chain sustainability greatly influenced by its freight transport activities. Most of the previous work discussed the economic and environmental sustainability of freight transport industry; although the social sustainability (SS) dimension paid less attention to researchers and practitioners of emerging economies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the importance of SS indicators in the freight transport industry. The SS assessment framework is validated with the Indian freight transport industry.,The proposed framework considers four SS dimension and 25 indicators. The SS indicators’ importance varies with the individual company's prospect. Therefore the proposed framework is used in multi-company perspective as well as in industry perspective to present more realistic results. The importance weight of SS dimension and indicators are computed with a novel multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method, i.e. fuzzy best–worst method (FBWM).,The prioritisation of SS indicators in each company perspective is compared with an industry perspective. The contribution to community health and education program is most valuable indicator followed by the prevention of child and forced labour. The model robustness is tested through sensitivity analysis and reported that less variation in indicators’ ranking.,To authors best of knowledge, this is the first study to highlight the importance of SS indicators in the freight transport industry. This study contributes to the sustainability assessment literature by providing a nuanced perception of the SS indicators and put forward managerial implications for improving the SS of the freight transport industry. The proposed framework could be treated as a benchmark for other developing nation's freight transport industry.

Integrating environmental competencies into leadership development, aligning managerial incentives with ESG metrics, particularly environmental targets and scaling transition finance for pollution-abatement technologies. These insights operationalize strategies to harmonize productivity growth with China's dual carbon goals, providing a replicable model for sustainable industrialization in emerging economies. This study focuses on Chinese A-share firms from 2015 to 2022. It analyzes how environmental regulations leverage management ability (MA) to drive sustainable productivity through a multi-method framework, which combines DID, DEA-Tobit and entropy-weighted approaches. Results show that stringent regulations enhance managerial competencies in pollution control and green innovation, which critically improve ESG performance – particularly environmental governance – mediating sustainable productivity gains. Moderate financial leverage optimally balances ecological investments and fiscal stability, while state-owned enterprises outperform in translating MA improvements into environmental outcomes through institutionalized low-carbon R&D coordination. Methodologically, staggered DID tests and placebo analyses address endogeneity, advancing dynamic capability theory by formalizing ESG-driven governance as a mechanism for sustainable industrialization. It has not fully covered the heterogeneity of technological diffusion within the industry. In the future, a cross-industry ecological efficiency tracking system can be constructed by integrating digital twin technology. (1) Corporate governance: Implement substantive linkages between environmental leadership metrics and executive compensation, prioritizing core competencies in carbon asset management and circular technology commercialization. (2) Policy design: Develop leverage-differentiated green financial instruments and establish carbon market maturity-graded environmental credit systems.(3)Education reform: Integrate climate scenario simulations and ESG decision-making modules into management curricula to cultivate strategic thinking that balances short-term financial objectives with long-term ecological value creation. By integrating dynamic capability theory with environmental economics, this study constructs an analytical paradigm for ESG transmission mechanisms. It extends the resource-based view's explanatory scope regarding green intangible assets and reveals institutional complementarities in low-carbon technology sharing and ecological resource integration through the “policy anchoring–market response” model.

No abstract available

As China's economy transitions from a phase of rapid growth to one of high-quality development, the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of manufacturing enterprises is crucial for achieving high-quality economic goals. However, some manufacturing companies seek short-term gains through ESG greenwashing, severely hindering China's efforts towards high-quality economic development and the achievement of its carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets (the dual carbon goals). In light of this, this paper begins with an analysis of relevant research on ESG, greenwashing, and their relationship both domestically and internationally. Based on an examination of the industrial landscape and ESG practices of manufacturing enterprises in Liaoning, it studies the monitoring system for ESG greenwashing risks in Liaoning's manufacturing sector, designs specific monitoring indicators, and establishes an ESG greenwashing risk assessment model for Liaoning's manufacturing enterprises. Furthermore, it proposes preventive strategies to address ESG greenwashing risks, providing insights to help prevent greenwashing and promote green development in society and the economy.

Abstract Green financial reform and innovation attempts to combine the two core principles of green development and innovation-driven to promote the sustainable development of enterprises. This paper adopts the synthetic control method to establish the experimental and reference groups according to whether the study area is a pilot area for green finance reform. According to the research theory, the indicators affecting the sustainable development of enterprises are selected, and the changes in the indicators of the experimental group before and after the green financial reform and innovation are compared and analyzed. Based on the Mean Difference value and Median Difference value, determine the role of green finance in influencing the sustainable development of enterprises. The parallel trend hypothesis test is carried out to verify the feasibility of the double difference model setting. Construct the mediation model for green lending and enterprise R&D investment to promote sustainable development within enterprises in the context of green finance reform and innovation. The regression results show that the coefficient of the double difference interaction term Treati* Aftert is 0.2653, which passes the significance test at the 1% level. The mediation model, after adding all control variables and three fixed effects, has a double difference term coefficient of 0.0876. After removing irrelevant factors, it further indicates that the implementation of the green financial pilot zone policy can promote the green technological innovation of enterprises to a certain extent and that the green financial pilot zone policy plays a significant role in the promotion of sustainable transformation of enterprises.

No abstract available

Corporate sustainability is a key concern in today’s world. This research examines the relationship between managerial myopic behavior and corporate sustainability performance in Chinese A-share listed companies from 2013 to 2022. Based on behavioral finance theory and time orientation theory, our research provides novel insights into how time preference in managerial decisions significantly affects corporate sustainable development. We also investigate how myopic behavior by managers can adversely affect a company’s sustainable development performance. Using a robust dataset, we describe the mechanisms by which managers’ myopic behavior affects sustainability performance, especially in two aspects: financialization of assets and green innovation capability. The results of our research show the following: (1) managers’ myopic behavior adversely affects corporate sustainability performance; (2) asset financialization and green innovation capability play mediating roles; and (3) unlike the findings of the existing research, this study found that the linear moderating effect of media attention plays a significant “inverted U-shaped” moderating role in the relationship between the two influences.

As an important strategic decision for enterprise sustainability, the green entrepreneurial orientation can facilitate boundary-spanning search for external knowledge and resources to achieve triadic sustainable economic, environmental, and social performance. Based on organizational search theory and dynamic capability theory, this study introduces environmental dynamism into the model of the relationship between green entrepreneurial orientation, boundary-spanning search and enterprise triadic sustainable performance. By analyzing the questionnaire data from 202 managers of manufacturing SMEs, the study explores the internal and external influences of green entrepreneurial orientation on the enterprise sustainable performance. The results show that: green entrepreneurial orientation has a positive impact on enterprise economic, environmental and social performance; boundary-spanning search plays a fully mediating role between green entrepreneurial orientation and enterprise economic, environmental and social performance; environmental dynamism, as a key external environmental factor, positively regulates the relationship between boundary-spanning search and enterprise economic performance and environmental performance, and negatively regulates the relationship between boundary-spanning search and social performance. This study clearly demonstrates how green entrepreneurial orientation in the environmental era can drive triadic sustainable performance improvement of enterprises. In addition, this study argues that boundary-spanning search is an important tool that enables manufacturing SMEs to achieve a triad of coordinated sustainable development of economic, environmental and social benefits in a dynamic environment.

Clearly delineating the key capabilities of organizational resilience for fisheries enterprises holds significant practical implications, as it can mitigate financing risks and foster the sustainable development of the fisheries industry. Based on the "dynamic capabilities perspective", this study constructs an analytical framework for the resilience capabilities of fisheries enterprises against financing risk. A hybrid method comprising the probabilistic linguistic term set, the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory, and the additive ratio assessment is applied to a case study of Homey Group, examining the diverse pathways through which financing risk forms and impacts outcomes. The main findings are: (1) In the comprehensive assessment of the role of resilience capabilities in addressing the "Risk-Seeking-Decline Type" financing risk factors, market diversification and sustainable practices are accorded higher weights surpassing financial resources as the two most value-enhancing resilience capabilities. Enterprises characterized by a "Risk-Seeking-Loss Type" profile tend to assign higher weights to market diversification and technological infrastructure when evaluating financing risk resilience capabilities. (2) Regarding the key capabilities of organizational resilience, Homey Group possesses a weak risk management system for monitoring and evaluating significant risks and implementing control activities. (3) With regards to suggestions for improvement, it is advisable to delegate oversight of the risk identification process to a designated risk committee or specialists in risk management. The conclusions contribute to a deeper understanding of the nature and mechanism of resilience capabilities for fisheries enterprises and provides implications for risk management and sustainable development.

At a time when more attentions are paid to green environmental protection at home and abroad, enterprises need more driving forces to do ESG practices. Digital transformation with the help of digital technology, this new quality productivity provides enterprises with a new way of thinking and power to enhance ESG performance. Explore whether digital transformation can enable ESG performance of enterprises, so as to provide certain practical significance for enterprises to firmly carry out digital transformation, improve ESG performance of enterprises, and obtain new sustainable competitive advantages of enterprises. This paper focuses on the empirical study of the relationship between digital transformation and ESG performance of Shanghai-Shenzhen A-share listed multinational enterprises from 2011 to 2022, and explores the mechanism of digital transformation affecting ESG performance from the perspective of dynamic capabilities of enterprises. The results show that the degree of digital transformation has a positive relationship with ESG performance. Based on the research conclusions, the following suggestions are put forward: At the government level, the government should provide strong policy guidance and resource support for the promotion of digital transformation, solve difficulties and dredge blocked points. Continue to deepen the understanding of ESG concept, expand the influence of ESG, guide enterprises to take the initiative to practice ESG concept, cope with the voice of foreign countries in the ESG field, and support the acceleration of the construction of ESG rating system with unique Chinese characteristics. At the enterprise level, enterprises should integrate digital transformation into corporate strategy and management activities, actively seize the opportunities of digital development to achieve green transformation, improve the quality of internal control, and lay a good foundation for sustainable development of enterprises.

With increasingly stringent environmental regulations and the growing demand for green consumption, firms have become progressively aware of the critical importance of green supply chain management (GSCM). Although existing studies have partially explored the relationship between GSCM and enterprise sustainability performance, empirical research from the perspectives of network embeddedness and resource orchestration remains relatively limited. To address this gap, grounded in network embeddedness theory and resource orchestration theory, this article selects Chinese A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen that implemented GSCM from 2012 to 2022 as the sample to empirically examine the relationships among green supply chain network embeddedness, resource orchestration capability, and sustainability performance. The findings reveal that structural embeddedness (SE) of green supply chain networks exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with sustainability performance, whereas relational embeddedness (RE) exerts a positive impact. Additionally, green resource absorption capacity and green resource allocation capability mediate the relationship between green supply chain network embeddedness and sustainability performance. The influence of SE on sustainability performance is particularly pronounced in heavily polluting industries and large enterprises, while the positive effects of RE are more evident in nonpolluting industries and small enterprises. This article broadens the theoretical perspectives in the fields of supply chain management and sustainability, offering theoretical support for firms to optimize GSCM practices and achieve sustainable development.

Background: Social enterprise is a potential driver of sustainability at the community level in energy sector decarbonization. Research objectives: We ask how sustainable entrepreneurs’ embeddedness in the territorial and institutional contexts of a coal region in transition shapes their ability to exploit sustainable business opportunities, and how they can influence energy transition pathways. Research design and methods: We introduce the notion of system-building sustainable entrepreneurs, who develop breakthrough niche innovations. Our analytical framework employs a multilevel perspective and multiscalar analysis of institutional work is applied to the case study of an energy cluster. Results: We identified multiscalar institutional work of SBSEs operating in the niche, presenting the inhibiting and enabling factors at the regime and landscape levels. Although enabling factors created opportunities, they could only be exploited through institutional work. Conclusions: We identified three key factors shaping the ability of system-building sustainable entrepreneurs to exploit opportunities and shape transition pathways.

Coal mining is a very important sector in Indonesia, but there has been a decline in the realization of coal production in recent years, so this can reduce state revenues. One of the big challenges in the mining sector is the uncertainty of the mining business, such as information technology and sustainability concerns, that affect the mining industry's supply chain procedure. The purpose of this examination is to identify and determine the performance of supply chain resilience in the face of business uncertainty by determining the function of IT capabilities and sustainability practices in coal mining contractors. This research was conducted using a quantitative research method approach that was carried out using a structured survey instrument. The methodology employed in this study is built on purposive sampling, which is a non-probability selection method. The researchers used the Structural Equation Model (SEM) to examine data that were gathered from a sample of 128 project managers of coal mining contractors in Indonesia. The findings of this study demonstrated that project operational performance was significantly and favorably impacted by supply chain resilience. Additionally, a major and advantageous mediating IT skill in the operational execution of projects is supply chain resilience. Furthermore, it was shown that the use of IT capacity and the implementation of sustainability practices had a noteworthy and favorable influence on enhancing the performance of mining contractor projects. This research also provides information that environmental dynamism does not significantly moderate supply chain resilience on mining project performance. The novelty of this research is the contribution of supply chain resilience as an important resource for organizations that are integrated with IT capabilities to encourage increased project operational performance, especially for coal mining contractors. Additionally, research is still rarely carried out in between sustainability practices and supply chain resilience in the mining sector. It is concluded that coal mining contractor projects need to build supply chain resilience at the site amidst the uncertainty of the coal mining business.

Large companies have a long track record of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives, whereas many small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) lag in adopting sustainability‐related practices, often acting voluntarily or in response to stakeholder pressures and incentives. This study develops and validates a competitiveness‐based ESG capability measure for SMEs—the Small and Medium‐Sized Enterprise ESG capability measure (SM‐ESG)—that captures sustainability‐related managerial routines embedded in everyday business practices. Building on a validated ten‐pillar competitiveness framework, we operationalize ESG‐related managerial capabilities across strategy, marketing, technology, online presence, administrative practices, finance, collaboration, innovation, human resources, and internationalization, and map them into environmental, social, and governance dimensions. We validate SM‐ESG by examining its associations with marketing performance and owner value creation, proxied by equity accumulation. The results are consistent with SM‐ESG mediating the association between firm size and equity accumulation, indicating that higher SM‐ESG scores are concurrently associated with slightly stronger equity growth (indirect effect = 0.024, p  = 0.028; 95% bootstrap CI: 0.003–0.045), conditional on firm size. The positive association between marketing performance and SM‐ESG suggests that strategic marketing capabilities can complement ESG‐related capabilities by enabling SMEs to differentiate themselves from competitors. These findings should be interpreted as theory‐consistent associations based on cross‐sectional, pre‐CSRD data from Hungarian SMEs.

As understanding grows of the scale of health care's environmental impacts, so too does interest in measuring and reporting on sustainability as a facet of health care system performance. This article examines important lessons from health care's long experience with performance and quality measurement and reporting that can be applied to the creation of health care sustainability metrics. Although some large health systems such as Kaiser Permanente have invested heavily in environmental stewardship, in the US the focus of health care sustainability measurement and reporting has typically been on corporate social responsibility and climate risk disclosure. The ability of health care organizations to generate data on and control environmental impacts can be limited by legacy infrastructure and complex supply chains. However, just as in other domains of performance, health care sustainability measurement and reporting must proceed from a clear conceptual framework and statement of purpose. Measurement must reflect strategic goals, instead of letting goals become dictated by ease of measurement. Health system leaders now need to set clear and compelling sustainability goals, invest in internationally comparable metrics by which to measure their success, and embed them in their core business.

Low carbon is still a key stock market theme, but war and changing economic conditions through 2022 have placed greater emphasis on the security of supply. Yet our longstanding view still holds: the energy transition will happen, and oil and gas companies have significant value at risk. In the face of tightening carbon policies or the eventual decline in oil and gas demand, companies that fail to adapt to the emerging low-carbon world will suffer a deterioration in market rating. Plotting a strategy for the energy transition has become more complex than ever. Satisfying investors, government and public stakeholders while pursuing secure, affordable and sustainable sources of energy requires a delicate balance. Unanticipated shocks like the global pandemic or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine make strategic planning a veritable high-wire act. The complexity in mapping out an approach to the energy transition makes it even harder to benchmark the different strategies companies may employ. How are companies positioned to navigate the energy transition over the coming decades? Which companies are best situated to handle shocks to the market in the next few years? We believe these questions of near-term resilience and long-term sustainability can be answered by examining (a) a company’s financial position and scale, (b) its portfolio outlook and (c) its carbon exposure and transition strategy. Building on these concepts of Corporate Resilience and Sustainability, we can compare the strategies of Australia’s largest energy players against their international peers. We can highlight their strengths, weaknesses and areas for focus. We can show you what ‘best-in-class’ looks like.

Presented on Thursday 18 May: Session 28 Low carbon is still a key stock market theme, but war and changing economic conditions through 2022 have placed greater emphasis on the security of supply. Yet our longstanding view still holds: the energy transition will happen, and oil and gas companies have significant value at risk. In the face of tightening carbon policies or the eventual decline in oil and gas demand, companies that fail to adapt to the emerging low-carbon world will suffer a deterioration in market rating. Plotting a strategy for the energy transition has become more complex than ever. Satisfying investors, government and public stakeholders while pursuing secure, affordable and sustainable sources of energy requires a delicate balance. Unanticipated shocks like the global pandemic or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine make strategic planning a veritable high-wire act. The complexity in mapping out an approach to the energy transition makes it even harder to benchmark the different strategies companies may employ. How are companies positioned to navigate the energy transition over the coming decades? Which companies are best situated to handle shocks to the market in the next few years? We believe these questions of near-term resilience and long-term sustainability can be answered by examining (a) a company’s financial position and scale, (b) its portfolio outlook and (c) its carbon exposure and transition strategy. Building on these concepts of Corporate Resilience and Sustainability, we can compare the strategies of Australia’s largest energy players against their international peers. We can highlight their strengths, weaknesses and areas for focus. We can show you what ‘best-in-class’ looks like. To access the Oral Presentation click the link on the right. To read the full paper click here

Sustainability accounting has emerged as a critical tool in driving the global transition towards a green economy. By integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics into financial reporting, sustainability accounting seeks to uncover hidden dimensions that influence the alignment of economic activities with sustainable development goals. This study aims to explore the role of sustainability accounting in enabling green economic transformation, focusing on its application in assessing corporate environmental impact, resource efficiency, and stakeholder engagement. Employing a qualitative methodology, the research combines a literature review with case studies of industries at the forefront of sustainable practices. The findings reveal that sustainability accounting not only enhances transparency and accountability but also serves as a strategic decision-making framework for organizations transitioning to low-carbon operations. Furthermore, the research identifies critical challenges, such as the standardization of sustainability metrics, integration of ESG factors into financial systems, and the need for capacity-building among practitioners. Despite these barriers, the study underscores the potential of sustainability accounting to drive systemic change by fostering innovation, encouraging green investments, and promoting equitable resource allocation. This study contributes to the evolving discourse on sustainability by providing a comprehensive analysis of how accounting practices can address the complexities of environmental and social challenges. The findings highlight the necessity for collaboration between policymakers, businesses, and academia to develop robust sustainability accounting frameworks that support long-term economic and ecological resilience.

Socio-economic resilience and sustainable development have become central themes in contemporary public debate, with the transition to sustainable, low-carbon energy systems emerging as a strategic priority. Within this context, our research specifically examines how CSR engagement, renewable energy deployment, and sustainable finance jointly influence firms’ exposure to climate-related financial risks, addressing a gap in the literature regarding corporate-level resilience. The empirical analysis employs a structured two-fold methodological framework comprising robust regression with Huber and biweight iterations, and quantile-on-quantile (Q–Q) regression. The dataset includes 300 European energy companies for 2024, extracted from the LSEG Data & Analytics platform. Our findings reveal that companies in the European energy sector must accelerate their transition to low-carbon operating models. Specifically, firms with stronger sustainability commitments exhibit reduced exposure to climate-induced financial instability and improved long-term performance indicators. These findings underscore the moderating role of CSR and renewable energy investments in enhancing corporate resilience. Sustainability-oriented firms are better positioned to absorb, mitigate, and adapt to climate-related shocks, supporting both environmental objectives and financial stability. Policy recommendations should focus on balancing ESG objectives with financial performance requirements, ensuring that energy companies receive adequate support for the green transition. Such alignment is essential to strengthen corporate resilience and improve the effectiveness of sustainable energy policies amid escalating climate challenges.

Amid China’s pursuit of a green and low-carbon transition, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is facing new challenges. Our research delves into the influencing factors and mechanisms for CSR reputation under green and low-carbon transition and provides practical enlightenment for enterprises to achieve sustainable development. This paper constructs a comprehensive index system of CSR from five dimensions (innovation, coordination, sustainability, openness, and sharing), and CSR reputation of China’s A-share listed companies is comprehensively estimated by using an entropy method and data from 2013 to 2021. Then, from the perspective of external supervision and internal governance, we discuss the influence factors of CSR reputation, with an emphasis on the impact of public environmental concerns. Finally, the realization mechanism of CSR is further revealed. It is found that public environmental concern and the expansion of the enterprise scale boost the enhancement of CSR reputation. However, a higher proportion of female managers tends to hinder CSR reputation. Furthermore, public environmental concern plays a more prominent role in improving CSR reputation of non-state-owned and eastern enterprises. Additionally, public environmental concern significantly enhances CSR reputation through green technology innovation and executive environmental awareness. This research provides valuable insights for improving CSR reputation and optimizing regulatory compliance and governance practices.

In this paper, the issue of the dependence of sustainable development on such factors as environmental friendliness, social orientation and decision-making (ESG) is considered. Today, we see a widespread ESG agenda in all strategic development issues. All stakeholders, from the company to the society, understand the importance of ESG, as it is an important component of long-term development, risk management, and government support. This study analyzes the main vectors and business directions, what kind of reporting should be, including which ESG standards should be followed, as well as how managers implement ESG policies. The research focuses on the relationship between sustainable development Goals and ESG factors in the corporate sector. The basic principles of ESG are considered in detail, and the factors of this agenda are analyzed in as much detail as possible. The current issues and further opportunities for the implementation of such a long-term concept are clearly marked with a red line. This agenda is particularly relevant within the framework of the current sanctions pressure and the risks associated with it. What is the reality for integrating ESG into business practice. Using scientific research methods and empirical data, the real practice of implementing ESG in Kazakhstan is demonstrated. Proposals for all stakeholders to improve the ESG implementation process are presented. Thus, the purpose of the study is to analyze public finance management within the framework of the ESG concept and the development of a low-carbon economy.

Traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) models assume directly comparability among decision-making units (DMUs). However, this assumption is not necessarily applied in practice; DMUs do not always utilize similar inputs to produce similar outputs. Sometimes, a DMU may not choose to produce a certain output (e.g., a steel plant may not produce tool steels) or cannot produce the certain output for some certain reasons. Meanwhile, DMUs may choose different resources to achieve the general productions or services (e.g., papermaker mills consume different raw materials to produce paper). How to compare a DMU to other units objectively becomes an issue when evaluating efficiency in the absence of homogeneity. In this study, a cross-like efficiency model for the DEA of non-homogeneous DMUs is established to handle the aforementioned issue. The proposed method can even assign unique rankings to DMUs with missing outputs or inputs. Furthermore, prior information on the appropriate bound for the share of resources is not needed. The proposed model is applied to an existing data set used in previous studies. 39 companies on S&P 500 corporations in 2013 are also studied with this model. It is confirmed that investors focus on the company's green thoughts and long-term sustainability by the empirical investigation. Furthermore, this study shows that the Information Technology sector has the highest low-carbon investment performance among the nine sectors investigated. The measurement of low-carbon technology investment can be an available benchmark for a specific industry to attain corporate sustainability.

No abstract available

In today’s globalized world, characterized by complex supply chain networks, integrating sustainability supply chain risks into the corporate assessment models seems crucial. To tackle the global challenges this paper presents a Sustainability Risk Assessment Framework that allows measurement of environmental and social risks upstream and downstream, along global supply chains, using a combination of quantitative methods (environmental and social footprint computing tools) and qualitative methods (hotspots analysis) from three dimensions (by scenarios, by product components, by lifecycle stage). To test this framework this study focuses on the mobile phone industry, due to the importance of its environmental and social impacts. The results show the low impact of recycling strategies in environmental terms and social terms on the mobile phone industry. Fostering re-use strategies by companies will substantially improve their impacts. This framework overcomes some of the weaknesses of the corporate sustainability risk assessment methodologies, combining quantitative methods and qualitative methods.