Search Results (105)

The 1.9 billion metric tons of steel globally manufactured in 2023 justify the steel industry’s pivotal role in modern society’s growth. Considering the rapid development of countries that have not fully taken part in the global market, such as Africa, steel production is expected to increase in the next decade. However, the environmental burden associated with steel manufacturing must be mitigated to achieve sustainable production, which would align with the European Green Deal pathway. Such a burden is associated both with the GHG emissions and with the solid residues arising from steel manufacturing, considering both the integrated and electrical routes. The valorisation of the main steel residues from the electrical steelmaking is the central theme of this work, referring to the steel electric manufacturing in the Dalmine case study. The investigation was carried out from two different points of view, comprising the action of a plasma electric reactor and a RecoDust unit to optimize the recovery of iron and zinc, respectively, being the two main technologies envisioned in the EU-funded research project ReMFra. This work focuses on those preliminary steps required to detect the optimal recipes to consider for such industrial units, such as thermodynamic modelling, testing the mechanical properties of the briquettes produced, and the smelting trials carried out at pilot scale. However, tests for the usability of the dusty feedstock for RecoDust are carried out, and, with the results, some recommendations for pretreatment can be made. The outcomes show the high potential of these streams for metal and mineral recovery. Full article

Offsite construction (OSC) offers a promising alternative for accelerating refurbishment projects across Italy and Europe. However, its adoption remains limited due to technical, regulatory, and cultural barriers. This study, conducted as part of the OFFICIO project, maps the current European OSC landscape, with a focus on wood and light-steel technologies for sustainable building refurbishment. Combining a literature review, analysis of funded projects, and market data for 541 OSC products, the study develops tailored KPIs to assess these products’ technical maturity, prefabrication level, and environmental integration. The results reveal that wood-based OSC, although less widespread, is more mature and centered on the use of multi-layer panels, while steel-based systems, though more prevalent, remain largely tied to semi-offsite construction, indicating untapped development potential. Research efforts, especially concentrated in Mediterranean regions, focus on technological integration of renewable energy systems. A significant literature gap was identified in information concerning panel-to-wall connection, critical for renovation, limiting OSC’s adaptability to regeneration of existing buildings. The findings highlight the need for cross-sector collaboration, legislative clarity, and better alignment of public procurement standards with OSC characteristics. Addressing these issues is essential to bridge the gap between research prototypes and industrial adoption and accelerate the sustainable transformation of Europe’s construction sector to help meet climate neutrality targets. Full article

Against the backdrop of ecological civilization construction and regional coordinated development strategies, functional zone (MFOZ) planning guides national spatial development through differentiated policies. However, a prominent conflict exists between the ecological protection responsibilities and regional development rights in restricted and prohibited development zones, leading to a vicious cycle of “ecological protection → restricted development → poverty exacerbation”. This paper focuses on the synergistic mechanisms between ecological compensation and targeted poverty alleviation. Based on the capability approach and sustainable development goals (SDGs), it analyzes the dialectical relationship between the two in terms of goal coupling, institutional design, and practical pathways. The study finds that ecological compensation can break the “ecological poverty trap” through the internalization of externalities and the enhancement of livelihood capabilities. Nevertheless, challenges remain, including low compensation standards, unbalanced benefit distribution, and insufficient legalization. Through case studies of the compensation reform in the water source area of Southern Shaanxi, China, and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union, this paper proposes the construction of a long-term mechanism integrating differentiated compensation standards, market-based fund integration, legal guarantees, and capability enhancement. The research emphasizes the need for institutional innovation to balance ecological protection and livelihood improvement, promoting a transition from “blood transfusion” compensation to “hematopoietic” development, thereby offering a Chinese solution for global sustainable development. Full article

Brexit, the exiting of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU), has impacted socio-political relationships, both internally, and externally with other countries and economic groups. This has been especially true regarding international trade, and legal and market standards for food and food security. This paper examines how the enacting of Brexit has framed and underlined contemporary perceptions of the UK neoliberal food system, the relative importance of food standards, and the impact of policy transition on food security. Using a positional approach, perspectives and narratives within the literature are critiqued and synthesized, including academic sources, parliamentary debates, economic reports, and media analysis. The politico-economic effects of Brexit have altered food-related relationships, recalibrating trade interactions and changing the public funding that UK farmers receive. Through realigning extractive economic models, the pre-Brexit UK food system has been reset, and new perspectives about neoliberalism have emerged. Government intervention has steered away from traditional neoliberal framings towards neo-developmentalism. A dichotomy thus exists between recognizing the intrinsic right to adequate and nutritious food and maintaining existing cultural dynamics of food supply, and the use of agri-food policy as a politico-economic tool to drive higher economic growth. The implications of this policy change are stark for UK agri-food actors within food system transition post-Brexit. Full article

Achieving the European Union’s (EU) energy efficiency targets is essential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing energy security, and ensuring sustainable investments in the building and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sectors. However, stagnant investments hinder progress towards these goals. This study examines successful sustainable financing practices for energy efficiency projects, with a focus on replicable financing schemes and models across EU countries. By examining long-term, replicable initiatives, the paper identifies best practices that can be adapted across various EU Member States, despite differing regulatory frameworks. Key selection criteria include project scale, duration, results, and private financing attraction. The study also provides market updates, evaluates financial schemes and models, assesses barriers to private fund leveraging, and shares lessons learned in overcoming these challenges. This research contributes to understanding effective strategies for encouraging investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy across the EU by promoting large-scale communication campaigns and fostering greater public-private cooperation. Full article

Background/Objectives: This work aimed to analyze pediatric Post-Authorization Studies (PASs) registered in the European Union electronic Register of Post-Authorization Studies (EU PAS Register) from September 2010 to April 2023 to identify trends in terms of timing, age groups, and therapeutic areas and to discuss pediatric specificities and sources of funding for the PASs. Methods: A screening process identified PASs conducted exclusively on the pediatric population, and instructions were provided to ensure standardized data collection from the EU PAS Register. A univariate linear regression descriptive analysis was performed to assess trends over time, while a multivariate linear regression analysis helped explore additional characteristics of these studies. Results: Of the 2574 PASs extracted from the EU PAS Registry, 165 were included in this analysis. The majority of pediatric PASs were observational studies (86%), and most of them utilized secondary data (53%). The annual number of PASs increased significantly between 2010 and 2023. As envisaged, the largest part was funded by pharmaceutical companies (62%). Anti-infectives for systemic uses (25%), medicines for the nervous system (18%), and antineoplastic and immunomodulating agents (15%) resulted in the most studied drugs. Conclusions: Our findings show that post-marketing observational research in pediatric populations has increased over time. Nevertheless, industry–academia collaboration should be encouraged, and regulatory guidance is needed to prioritize research in areas of unmet therapeutic need. Full article

The European Funds market is a key mechanism for fostering regional development and economic growth within the European Union, yet its efficiency can be undermined by information asymmetry, which complicates fund absorption processes. This paper investigates the European Funds market and explores how adverse selection and moral hazard impact the dynamics of the fund allocation. Through qualitative research, the authors assess the European Funds market, identify its key stakeholders, and explore factors influencing funds absorption. Findings reveal complex interactions among European Union institutions, managing authorities, beneficiaries, and consultants. The research highlights economic, administrative, institutional, and social factors that affect fund absorption rates and pinpoint adverse selection and moral hazard as primary consequences of information asymmetry in the European Funds market. By emphasizing the importance of effective communication processes and describing the experiences of various actors in European-funded projects, the study provides actionable insights for policymakers and stakeholders. This paper offers a new perspective on the European Funds market and links information asymmetry to inefficiencies in fund allocation. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the European Funds market, fostering transparency, enhancing institutional capacities, and promoting sustainability in the governance of public funds. Full article

Conceived as institutions funded by the public purse and intended to exist devoid of political influence, the mandate of public service media (PSM) entities is to disseminate reliable news content and high-quality audiovisual productions to all demographic segments, inclusive of marginalized communities and audiences that are typically under-served. Over the previous ten years, the rise in prominence of global platforms in national media systems has precipitated many changes in the media sector, including unique challenges for PSM institutions guided by specific public service values. Using a holistic conceptual framework for assessing the implementation of these values, this article analyzes the impact of platformization on Europe’s PSM and discusses how the Union’s policy approaches affect related challenges to PSM. The analysis indicates that while the European Union (EU) has accorded a high priority to PSM within its media policy framework, the role that Brussels plays in protecting the independence and efficacy of PSM has been circumscribed, given that the onus of regulating PSM entities rests with national governments. This has engendered contrasting experiences wherein certain PSM outlets enjoy political independence and command significant public trust while others function as state-controlled propaganda vehicles, advancing the objectives and interests of governing bodies. The EU has addressed global platform power in recent attempts to safeguard its digital future, including the Digital Services Act (DSA), Digital Markets Act (DMA), and the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). However, these acts do not adequately address PSM’s two central and often interconnected problems: funding challenges and political pressures. Full article

The sustainable finance framework implements the regulation to enhance firms’ sustainable reporting and increase market transparency in channeling funds. However, firms are under the pressure of going green and, thus, often demonstrate a propensity to environmental decoupling, which means the gap between what is told about environmental performance and what is truly done within. The main purpose of our exploratory work is to detect the environmental decoupling among sampled firms. The research problem relates to the effects of reporting requirements and aligning symptoms of environmental decoupling by comparing the increase in qualitative disclosures (talk) relative to measurable KPIs (real actions). We have empirically confirmed the potential problems of environmental decoupling within the environmental aspects other than carbon emissions. We have observed the improvement of qualitative disclosures, while the KPIs other than carbon-emission-related (use of resources and energy) confirmed no real actions. This result is aligned with the current policymakers’ focus on carbon emission reporting. Firms declare the implementation of policies and targets, but it does not fully drive real change. Our study contributes to the emerging strand of the literature on environmental decoupling, as well as offers implications for policymakers, to enhance the efficiency (and prevent environmental decoupling) within the new sustainable finance regulatory framework of the European Union. Full article

Passivhaus (PH) has gained global recognition for its energy-efficient features despite a 5% to 10% higher construction cost than traditional houses, especially within European countries. However, its adoption and popularity have not met the same fate in other countries like New Zealand. The higher upfront cost has been critical to the slow adoption of the PH movement in New Zealand. This study aimed to demystify the mist around the cost of PHs with a focus on the effects of drivers and barriers on their life cycle costs (LCCs). As such, a systematic literature review was conducted to provide a comprehensive understanding of the cost implications associated with PH. Using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) review method, we examined 71 past studies on PHs from 2005 to 2023. We found that the drivers of PHs include reduced heating demand, increased thermal comfort, and indoor air quality (IAQ). Research showed that the rising market for PHs is fueled by climate change, environmental awareness, innovative materials and technologies, individual commitment, improved regulations, pilot studies, research efforts, and governmental funding and initiatives. However, PHs face significant challenges such as increased complexity, advanced technology, higher initial investments compared to conventional and low-energy houses, national requirements, overheating, difficulties in affording the technologies, and a lack of options in the market. Despite the wealth of research on the economic aspects of PH, there is a lack of in-depth studies exploring the LCC of PHs focusing on cost commitments and benefits. Such studies are essential for assessing and optimising the cost-effectiveness of PH, considering different climates and regions, and comparing them with other low energy standards. The findings of our review provide a crucial focus for PH stakeholders in assessing the long-term financial viability of PH projects, thereby improving decision-making and facilitating effective planning for sustainable and cost-effective housing. Full article

In the European Union, greenhouse gas emissions statistics indicate only a slight decreasing trend over the last number of years in emissions from agricultural sources. Unless drastic action is taken in other sectors, the European Union’s 2030 and subsequent climate targets are unlikely to be met without greater reductions made in agricultural emissions. The policy instruments aimed at reducing agricultural emissions that are currently in place have proven to be ineffective; therefore, there is a need to look for new approaches towards bringing agricultural emissions down faster and farther. One obvious new approach is to integrate agricultural emissions into the European Union Emissions Trading System, which, so far, has proven very successful in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the energy and industrial sectors. Hardly any attention has been paid in the scholarly legal literature to the question of integrating agricultural GHG emissions into emission trading systems. This article seeks to fill this gap. This paper presents the concluding findings of a Dutch Research Council-funded research project that aimed to assess whether and under what conditions the European Union Emissions Trading System could play a role in compelling the agricultural sector to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. We answered this question by looking at lessons learned from existing examples in the world of market-based approaches to integrating agriculture into emission reduction schemes. To do this, we performed an ex-post assessment of three of the very few examples that exist in the world of such schemes in Canada, California, and Australia, followed by an ex-ante assessment of the prospect of including agricultural emissions under the European Union Emissions Trading System based on the practical experiences of those examples. In the ex-ante study, we evaluated how such inclusion could work, either indirectly, through allowing on-farm offset programs to reward increased carbon sequestration, or directly, by requiring farmers and/or other actors in the agricultural sector to surrender allowances for their direct emissions. As lawyers, we focused mainly on the legal considerations of such a proposition. Having conducted both the ex-ante and ex-post assessments, we conclude that introducing stricter legal instruments of one form or another that will reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon removal on agricultural land seems necessary for the European Union if it is serious about achieving its commitments under the Paris Agreement and meeting its obligations under its own Climate Law. The project makes a novel contribution to the legal scholarship in concluding that the most viable starting point for such stricter legislation would be to include methane and nitrous oxide emissions from livestock keeping and synthetic fertilizer use, respectively, under the European Union Emissions Trading System. To start with, this could be conducted by obliging meat and dairy processors and synthetic fertilizer producers to surrender allowances for the on-farm emissions associated with their products. This could be complemented by introducing a voluntary, but still highly regulated, carbon credits scheme that could encourage and reward farmers for reducing their own emissions and for transitioning to net-zero, and overall, more climate-resilient and environmentally friendly farming practices. Such credits could be offered for sale on the private carbon market as well as to Member State governments and the European Commission (through, for example, the Common Agricultural Policy, State Aid schemes, or the Innovation Fund). Full article

This study delves into the intricate relationship between corporate innovation and public support, underscoring innovation’s vital role in driving economic growth and competitiveness. Recognizing the multifaceted nature of innovation, from product and process improvements to organizational and marketing innovations, we examine how specific business characteristics and sectoral specificities condition access to public research and development (R&D) support, both nationally and at the European level. We analyze data from five Community Innovation Survey (CIS) reports spanning from 2008 to 2018 using ordered logit models. This approach evaluates the likelihood of companies receiving recurring public support for R&D based on internal R&D investments, interinstitutional collaboration, employee qualifications, and sectoral attributes. The findings reveal that internal R&D investments and collaboration with other entities significantly increase the likelihood of a company receiving recurrent public support. Furthermore, companies in high-tech sectors are more prone to receive public assistance. However, the analysis of European support shows no widespread statistical significance of the considered variables, suggesting the influence of evolving funding policies and an imbalanced dependent variable distribution. We conclude that the ability to secure public R&D support is influenced by a mix of company-internal and -external factors, highlighting the need for comprehensive and adaptable innovation policies. This study’s limitations, including potential sample non-representativeness and the dynamics of funding policies, underscore the importance of further, more encompassing research. Full article

This study offers a detailed analysis of building information modelling (BIM) policy and implementation across Europe, significantly contributing to the sector’s digital transformation. By collating data from governmental, academic, and industry sources, it identifies key trends and evaluates the effectiveness of BIM policies in advancing technology within construction. A systematic literature review and text mining across major databases revealed an increasing focus on sustainability, particularly “life cycle assessment” and “energy efficiency”, aligning with the Industry 5.0 initiative. The research shows that 35% of European countries have or plan to introduce BIM mandates, highlighting BIM’s crucial role in enhancing construction practices and influencing policy frameworks. Insights from this study are valuable for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, guiding the adoption and operationalization of BIM and emphasizing the need for thorough market preparation, including funding, training, and standardization. Additionally, the study suggests a correlation between a country’s economic development and its propensity to enforce BIM mandates. Future research could explore regional policy variations and delve into the theoretical aspects of policy adoption and innovation diffusion to further understand BIM uptake dynamics. Full article

In an era where crowdfunding in Portugal is garnering increased public attention, exemplified by notable campaigns like the recent funding of the nurses’ strike, we explore its potential as an alternative financial source to traditional banking. Through a comprehensive case study, we delve into pertinent issues, encompassing European legislation, market dynamics, and a survey disseminated to representatives of the four prominent Portuguese crowdfunding platforms. Comprising forty-one questions across four categories, the survey extracts insights on platform details, company/project information, investor perspectives, and the financing process, along with an evaluation of platform advantages/disadvantages vis-à-vis traditional banking. Despite heightened visibility, crowdfunding remains relatively unfamiliar to the broader public, yet it diverges from banking not as a substitute but as a complementary financial mechanism. Emphasizing accessibility, process agility, and reduced bureaucracy, crowdfunding serves as a means of swiftly gaining recognition for a company or project while tapping into a broad audience. Rather than competition, it offers supplementary support, facilitating the identification and validation of investment opportunities and concepts. Moreover, it streamlines subsequent interactions with banks and investors, enhancing confidence in a project’s viability. In essence, crowdfunding emerges not as an alternative but a strategic complement, enriching the financial landscape with its unique attributes. Full article

We develop a binary tree pricing model with underlying asset price dynamics following Itô–McKean skew Brownian motion. Our work was motivated by the Corns–Satchell, continuous-time, option pricing model. However, the Corns–Satchell market model is incomplete, while our discrete-time market model is defined in the natural world, extended to the risk-neutral world under the no-arbitrage condition where derivatives are priced under uniquely determined risk-neutral probabilities, and is complete. The skewness introduced in the natural world is preserved in the risk-neutral world. Furthermore, we show that the model preserves skewness under the continuous-time limit. We provide empirical applications of our model to the valuation of European put and call options on exchange-traded funds tracking the S&P Global 1200 index. Full article