Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
6.8
3.3
Journals
Sustainability
Special Issues
Green Business Transformation: ESG, Sustainable and Impact Investments and New...
sustainability-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Sustainability Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Green Business Transformation: ESG, Sustainable and Impact Investments and New Sustainable Business Models

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 7768

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Stanislav Shmelev

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Environment Europe Foundation, Fluwelen Burgwal 58, the Hague Humanity Hub, 2511CJ The Hague, The Netherlands
Interests: ecological economics; sustainable cities; ecosystems; evidence-based policy assessment; macroeconomic modeling; environmentally-extended input–output analysis; multi-criteria decision aid; ESG investment; new sustainable business models
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The multiple sustainability challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the waste crisis clearly require ambitious goals from decision makers at different levels today: from the regional and national level to the international and corporate level. A particular role is going to be played by the sustainability transformation in business that will come through the transition from the provision of goods to the provision of services, the AI-powered transformation of our daily lives, new forms of transportation, smart construction, etc. Bloomberg has assessed the scope of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) investments to reach USD 53 trillion by 2025. Clearly tremendous work will be required to rethink entire business models to make them more in line with the principles of sustainability: these models will need to be built with a focus on economic, environmental and social dimensions, and there will have to be new ways of appraising investment decisions and sustainability implications for strategy, marketing, finance, investment, and integrated reporting. New legislation focusing on integrated reporting is being introduced in Europe, while a massive sustainability investment package has been introduced by the Biden administration in the US. This Special Issue will be devoted to the whole spectrum of green business transformation issues, ranging from investment criteria and new business models to empirical evaluations and the comparative assessment of strategy.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Taxonomy of sustainable investments, regional trends, and priorities;
  • ESG investment: analysis of trends, profitability, KPIs, and strategic implications;
  • Impact investment: differences from traditional investments, additional criteria, and assessment of impact;
  • New sustainable business models: transformation challenges, case studies, and specific industries;
  • New sustainability regulations including: sustainability disclosure requirements, The Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation, EU taxonomy, The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, and ISSB Sustainability Disclosure Standards;
  • Sustainable innovation in agriculture, transportation, construction, and tourism.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Stanislav Shmelev
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ESG
  • impact investment
  • sustainable investment
  • sustainability reporting
  • business model
  • sustainability KPIs
  • sustainable business
  • sustainability regulation
  • IFRS
  • ISSB
  • TCFD

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 315 KiB  
Article
Environmental, Social, and Governance Information Rating and Firm Uncertainty Perception, Evidence from China Listed Firms
by Fei Xu, Xingyu Zhu and Mingke Li
Sustainability 2024, 16(14), 6018; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16146018 - 14 Jul 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1127
Abstract
Measuring firm value from an environmental, social, and governance perspective is a core concept of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), which contributes to the sustainable growth of firms. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between firms’ ESG performance and perceived economic uncertainty. [...] Read more.
Measuring firm value from an environmental, social, and governance perspective is a core concept of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), which contributes to the sustainable growth of firms. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between firms’ ESG performance and perceived economic uncertainty. Using a database of Chinese listed firms from 2011 to 2020, we find that firms with a good ESG performance are better able to resist changes in the external economic environment in the ESG rating system which still holds after a series of robustness tests and a discussion of endogeneity. The reason for this is that the ESG rating system better reduces information uncertainty between firms and the market, which allows firms to better focus on improving their technological and profit levels. In addition, companies with good ESG performance can provide more returns to investors. Our results highlight the necessity of aligning the interests between superior and subordinate governments and the importance of the supervision of superior governments in environmental decentralization. Our findings highlight the role of information communication in the market, especially in developing countries with imperfect information disclosure. It is all the more important to reduce information uncertainty between firms and other market players through mechanism building to achieve the long-term survival of quality firms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Business Transformation: ESG, Sustainable and Impact Investments and New Sustainable Business Models)
21 pages, 2228 KiB  
Article
Sustainable Value Chain for Sustainable Lending of State-Owned Banks in Indonesia
by Kepas Antoni Adrianus Manurung, Hermanto Siregar, Idqan Fahmi and Dedi Budiman Hakim
Sustainability 2024, 16(12), 4940; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16124940 - 8 Jun 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1501
Abstract
Banks have enormous potential to support the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in accordance with their function as financial intermediaries through sustainable lending. However, the average national financing growth for the sustainable business activity category over the past four years is still [...] Read more.
Banks have enormous potential to support the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in accordance with their function as financial intermediaries through sustainable lending. However, the average national financing growth for the sustainable business activity category over the past four years is still 12%. The aim of this research is to identify the conditions of sustainable lending at state-owned conventional banks and analyze the influence of the value chain, economic performance, and ESG performance on sustainable lending. The research was conducted at state-owned commercial banks in Indonesia. The research utilized structural equation modeling (SEM). The SEM results of this study describe value chain, ESG performance (environmental, social, and governance), and economic performance and have direct and positive influences on sustainable lending, of which ESG performance has the biggest influence. As per each individual aspect, social orientation makes the biggest contribution toward sustainable lending. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Business Transformation: ESG, Sustainable and Impact Investments and New Sustainable Business Models)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 2750 KiB  
Article
Application of Fuzzy Control and Neural Network Control in the Commercial Development of Sustainable Energy System
by Fanbao Xie, Xin Guan, Xiaoyan Peng, Yanzhao Zeng, Zeyu Wang and Tianqiao Qin
Sustainability 2024, 16(9), 3823; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16093823 - 2 May 2024
Viewed by 1024
Abstract
Sustainable energy systems (SESs) occupy a prominent position in the modern global energy landscape. The purpose of this study is to explore the application of fuzzy control and neural network control in photovoltaic systems to improve the power generation efficiency and stability of [...] Read more.
Sustainable energy systems (SESs) occupy a prominent position in the modern global energy landscape. The purpose of this study is to explore the application of fuzzy control and neural network control in photovoltaic systems to improve the power generation efficiency and stability of the system. By establishing the mathematical model of a photovoltaic system, the nonlinear and uncertain characteristics of photovoltaic system are considered. Fuzzy control and neural network control are used to control the system, and their performance is verified by experiments. The experimental results show that under the conditions of low light and moderate temperature, the fuzzy neural network control achieves a 3.33% improvement in power generation efficiency compared with the single control strategy. Meanwhile, the system can still maintain relatively stable operation under different environmental conditions under this comprehensive control. This shows that fuzzy neural network control has significant advantages in improving power generation efficiency and provides beneficial technical support and guidance for the commercial development of SESs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Business Transformation: ESG, Sustainable and Impact Investments and New Sustainable Business Models)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

23 pages, 2568 KiB  
Article
Green Consumerism in Young Adults: Attitudes and Awareness in University Students in Johannesburg, South Africa
by Lindokule Mbokane and Lee-Ann Modley
Sustainability 2024, 16(5), 1898; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16051898 - 26 Feb 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3253
Abstract
Unsustainable consumption of resources remains one of the significant environmental issues that prevent the achievement of sustainable development. Green consumerism forms part of the solutions to decrease unsustainable consumption globally. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness and attitudes of students [...] Read more.
Unsustainable consumption of resources remains one of the significant environmental issues that prevent the achievement of sustainable development. Green consumerism forms part of the solutions to decrease unsustainable consumption globally. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness and attitudes of students at the University of Johannesburg towards green consumerism. Data was collected using an online questionnaire, and 404 questionnaires were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis and R-studio, which was used to generate a generalized linear model. There was a significant relationship between income and faculty, showing that these factors influenced the participants’ level of awareness regarding green consumerism. The purchasing behavior of the participants is mostly influenced by the price and quality of products instead of the impact of a product on the environment. Overall, this study contributes to the existing literature on green consumerism concerning students. It recommends companies ensure that the prices of eco-friendly products are affordable and that companies should increase their green initiatives so that customers can be more aware of green consumerism. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Green Business Transformation: ESG, Sustainable and Impact Investments and New Sustainable Business Models)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-4
Back to TopTop