The green transition implies a shift towards renewable energies. However, their deployment has faced some backlash. This article assesses whether (a) the type of renewables and (b) framing can affect support for deployment. Through a survey experiment, three types of renewables (hydropower, onshore wind, offshore wind) and three types of frames (energy sovereignty, economic competitiveness, green transition) are evaluated, in general and for two typically skeptical groups (the least climate-worried and the less-educated ruralites). Using the case of Norway, we find strong effects for the type of renewables but little evidence for general framing effects. There are two exceptions: green framing has a negative effect on support for renewables where citizens have more fluid preferences (offshore wind) and depresses support among the least climate-worried and the less-educated ruralites. For these citizens, remaining silent about the climate benefits of renewable energy will actually boost support for its deployment.

In this article, we use a dynamic general equilibrium model to examine the effect of the move to net zero in the United Kingdom on productivity. One argument is that the transition is likely to be productivity-reducing, as it will involve a move from more- to less-efficient means of producing. Alternatively, it could be argued that the transition will be productivity-enhancing, as the capital investment required to bring about this move leads to a rise in productivity, both within the specific ‘greening’ industries and more generally via productivity spillovers to the rest of the economy. Our model enables us to examine how this potential trade-off varies depending on whether we look at the short, medium or long run. We find that the introduction of a carbon tax, applied to encourage the move towards net zero, reduced GDP and total hours worked, but, since total hours fell by more than GDP, increased productivity. As electricity becomes more substitutable for petrol and gas, the effect on productivity becomes more positive as GDP recovers while total hours remain permanently lower than initially. Finally, our results suggest that unless investment in green technology leads to significant technological gains elsewhere, it is unlikely that the move to net zero will have a large effect on productivity growth above and beyond the direct effect resulting from the capital deepening that will be associated with it.

This article assesses whether the interpretation and treatment of profit margins in investment treaty renewable energy disputes may interfere with just transition goals by safeguarding strong profit margins as legal entitlements for ‘green’ investments. There is an ongoing academic and policy debate about the role of investment treaties in shaping climate action. As far as climate-friendly investments are concerned, the focus of the debate has largely been on the role of investment treaties in incentivising renewable energy investments. Whether relying on investment treaties to protect RE investments can be conducive to just transition outcomes has not been the subject of much academic discussion. This article analyses the role of profit rates in renewable energy arbitral awards and situates investment treaties within the ‘de-risking’ ecosystem dominating energy transition policies. Situating investment treaties within this de-risking ecosystem enables a more holistic assessment of their role within energy transition and their impact on just transition goals. The article calls for the integration of profitability and burden-sharing considerations into proposals for rethinking the future of sustainable investment governance.

Agrivoltaics offers a strategy to expand renewable energy production while preserving agricultural land use through lease agreements between solar utilities and landowners. It can also provide farmers with additional income. Despite these advantages, adoption remains limited. This study examines farmers’ willingness to lease and estimates how additional information on this strategy affects farmers’ willingness to lease land for agrivoltaics. Using survey data from 177 farmers, we find that while 25% are willing to lease their land, 25% are indifferent. We find that additional information significantly increases the likelihood of farmers expressing willingness to lease by 4.1 percentage points.

As sustainability challenges intensify globally, evaluating the environmental impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has become increasingly important. Using panel data from 176 countries spanning 2003–2022, this study examines the influence of BRI on environmental sustainability using ecological footprint per capita (lnEF) as a comprehensive indicator and difference-in-differences (DiD) methodology. BRI participation leads to a 5 per cent increase in the lnEF among partner countries. Dual-channel analysis shows that renewable energy consumption mitigates ecological pressure, whereas information and communication technology development partially mediates the effects of BRI participation and environmental outcomes. Pronounced heterogeneity effects were observed for (i) countries joining between 2016 and 2019 (in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa), and (ii) countries in upper-middle- and high-income groups. Propensity score matching–DiD and robustness checks showed consistent findings. This study offers policy recommendations that emphasize environmental assessments, green technology support and international cooperation on sustainability.

The European electricity power grid is transitioning toward renewable energy sources, characterized by an increasing share of offshoreand onshore wind and solar power. However, the weather dependency of these energy sources poses a challenge to grid stability, with so-called Dunkelflaute events—periods of low wind and solar power generation—being of particular concern due to their potential to cause electricity supply shortages. In this study, we investigate the impact of these events on the German electricity production in the years and decades to come. For this purpose, we adapt a recently developed generative deep learning framework to downscale climate simulations from the CMIP6 ensemble. We first compare their statistics to the historical record taken from ERA5 data. Next, we use these downscaled simulations to assess plausible future occurrences of Dunkelflaute events in Germany under the optimistic low (SSP2–4.5) and high (SSP5–8.5) emission scenarios. Our analysis indicates that both the frequency and duration of Dunkelflaute events in Germany in the ensemble mean are projected to remain largely unchanged compared to the historical period. This suggests that, under the considered climate scenarios, the associated risk is expected to remain stable throughout the century.

Solar photovoltaic (PV) has been increasingly adopted in past years. This study provides empirical analysis using a county-level dataset that supported PV poverty alleviation projects (PPAPs) in rural China over 2008–2019 and finds that the rural per capita income of counties participating in PPAPs on average increased by 5 per cent compared to that of their counterparts. The effect is larger in more economically developed areas, those with abundant sunlight hours and in counties where centralized PV predominates. A cost–benefit analysis suggests that PPAPs can yield a net benefit of 57,690 yuan over their life cycle per rural household, with the ratio of household annual income growth to government fiscal expenditure ranging from 1.2 to 1.6. PPAPs are found to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 22 million tons annually, accounting for 0.4 per cent of China's carbon emissions reduction in 2020. Our results hold important implications for other countries working to alleviate poverty and reduce carbon emissions.

Energy poverty remains a persistent challenge in Nigeria, where over 40% of the population lacks reliable electricity despite vast renewable energy potential. While SDG 7 frames universal energy access as a justice imperative, renewable energy transitions generate complex social and environmental trade-offs that remain underexamined. This study assesses Nigeria’s renewable energy transition through the lens of energy justice, incorporating distributional, procedural, recognition, and restorative dimensions. Guided by three research questions, it evaluates: (1) the integration of energy justice principles in policy, (2) their implementation in practice, and (3) whether the transition can be considered just overall. Drawing on qualitative expert interviews, findings reveal multidimensional non-economic impacts. Benefits include improved health, enhanced educational access, livelihood opportunities, and environmental gains. However, significant harms persist, including displacement, land-use conflicts, electronic waste, cultural disruption, and gender-based vulnerabilities. While justice principles are often articulated in policy, implementation remains uneven: participation is frequently tokenistic, benefits are short-lived or unevenly distributed, vulnerable groups are insufficiently recognised, and reparative mechanisms are weak or absent. By linking these deficits to the persistence of energy poverty, the study shows that Nigeria’s transition remains incomplete from a justice perspective, underscoring the need for more inclusive and accountable governance frameworks.

This study examines the effectiveness of economic instruments in reducing carbon dioxide emissions in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The focus is on renewable energy consumption and environmental taxation. Previous studies often report that both instruments reduce emissions. However, much of the literature relies on single econometric methods. This may overlook cross-country heterogeneity, cross-sectional dependence and dynamic adjustment effects. To address these limitations, this study applies a multi-model panel econometric framework using balanced OECD data from 2000 to 2022. Fixed effects, mean group, pooled mean group and common correlated effects estimators are employed. These methods allow the identification of both short-run and long-run relationships while accounting for unobserved common factors. The results show that renewable energy consumption consistently and significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions across all model specifications. The effect is stronger in the long run. In contrast, environmental tax revenue shows weak and unstable effects that depend on model choice. Economic growth does not have a significant long-run impact on emissions. This suggests that efficiency gains and technological progress dominate scale effects in advanced economies. The findings highlight the importance of methodological robustness and support prioritizing renewable energy expansion over environmental taxation alone.

Many environmental nonprofit organizations (ENPOs) seek to create sustainability value by promoting environmental principles and influencing policymakers to support pro-environmental legislation. One strategy used by ENPOs to enhance the value creation process is the development of partnerships with businesses. Semi-structured interviews with leaders of six national ENPOs in the United States were conducted to examine the sources and types of value created by collaborations with renewable energy businesses, and the partnership processes and outcomes that are most desirable. The goal was to understand how and why ENPOs seek partnerships, what the potential benefits are, and whether or not ENPO leadership orientation, as characterized by their perceptions of the political opportunity structure, political ideology, and environmental philosophy, led to different views of partnerships for sustainability value creation. The finding that differences in the partnership perspectives of the ENPO leadership did not directly link to differences in the leadership orientations suggests that none of the orientations precluded partnering in general and may even have been enablers in some cases.

This study examines the enablers of progress towards net-zero emissions in emerging economies, focusing on the roles of renewable energy integration and energy policy support. Using structural equation modelling on survey data from 935 diverse respondents across India, the study finds that both renewable energy integration and energy policy support have significant positive impacts on net-zero progress. The analysis reveals two key mediating pathways: first, technology adoption and innovation mediate between renewable energy integration and net-zero progress; second, community awareness and participation mediate between energy policy support and net-zero progress. Economic and infrastructure constraints moderate the relationship between energy policy support and net-zero progress. Importance-performance map analysis indicates that while renewable energy, policy support and economic factors are highly important, their effectiveness may be limited by infrastructural and governance challenges. The findings suggest that policymakers should adopt a holistic approach that simultaneously addresses technological, social, economic and institutional dimensions. This study contributes to the net-zero transition literature by developing and validating an integrated model that incorporates technical, social, policy and institutional aspects. Limitations include the cross-sectional nature and single-country focus, suggesting opportunities for future longitudinal and cross-country studies.