The monitoring report on progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a global context involves a large number of actors as it represents probably the biggest change that our society ...is implementing. Actions at all levels, from local, regional and national to the aggregation of multiple countries (e.g. EU 27) are needed to achieve a sustainable future. This work focuses on a national perspective (Italy) where multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is used to measure current performance. A sustainability score for each region is calculated from a set of 175 indicators contained in all 17 SDGs. Additionally, sustainability scores are disaggregated along the three pillars - social (1-5, 10, 16, and 17), environmental (6, 13-15) and economic (7-9, 11, and 12). The results highlight the positive performance of northern regions and, in particular, of Trentino Alto Adige, which ranks first in the two considered scenarios. In addition, the relevance of territorial specificities emerges for which the analysis of individual SDGs shows different leading regions. It is noteworthy to highlight the performance of the environmental sub-group of SDGs in southern regions, in contrast to the social and economic sub-groups. Evidently, policy actions are needed to reduce the long-lasting North/South divide-yet the highlighted heterogeneous sustainability performance along the three dimensions calls for well targeted policy measures necessary to regain competitiveness at a European and global level, without compromising with environmental sustainability.
Food security, along with growing population and the associated environmental concerns, make food waste and loss a central topic in economic analysis. While food losses occur mostly at the ...production, postharvest and processing phases of the supply chain, food waste takes place mainly at the end of the chain and therefore concerns primarily the habits and behaviour patterns of retailers and consumers. Many solutions and practices have been proposed and oftentimes implemented in order to “keep food out of landfills”, thus reducing food waste at the source. However, little attention has been paid to the possible sharing of consumer-side food surplus. In this context, food sharing could represent an effective way to tackle food waste at the consumers' level, with both environmental and economic potential positive effects. However, there is still little empirical evidence testing the effectiveness of introducing sharing economy approaches to reduce food waste. This study seeks to fill this gap through a framed field experiment. The authors performed two experimental treatments; in the control treatment students were asked to behave according to their regular food consumption habits, and in the food sharing treatment the same students were instructed to purchase food, cook and consume it collectively. Preliminary results showed that the adoption of food sharing practices by households do not automatically translate into food waste reduction. A number of factors, were evident from a quali-quantitative analysis of the sample (i.e. environmentally friendly behaviour, economic awareness, domestic skills and collaborative behaviors) might act as ‘enablers’ to make sharing practices more effective. The replication of our study at a larger scale will allow further investigation of the relevance of the identified enablers in order to unlock the full potential of food sharing practices.
Surgical masks have become critical for protecting human health against the COVID-19 pandemic, even though their environmental burden is a matter of ongoing debate. This study aimed at shedding light ...on the environmental impacts of single-use (i.e., MD-Type I) versus reusable (i.e., MD-Type IIR) face masks via a comparative life cycle assessment with a cradle-to-grave system boundary. We adopted a two-level analysis using the ReCiPe (H) method, considering both midpoint and endpoint categories. The results showed that reusable face masks created fewer impacts for most midpoint categories. At the endpoint level, reusable face masks were superior to single-use masks, producing scores of 16.16 and 84.20 MPt, respectively. The main environmental impacts of single-use masks were linked to raw material consumption, energy requirements and waste disposal, while the use phase and raw material consumption made the most significant contribution for reusable type. However, our results showed that lower environmental impacts of reusable face masks strongly depend on the use phase since reusable face masks lost their superior performance when the hand wash scenario was tested. Improvement of mask eco-design emerged as another key factor such as using more sustainable raw materials and designing better waste disposal scenarios could significantly lower the environmental impacts.
The concept of sustainability is attracting great attention as societies become increasingly aware of the environmental consequences of their actions. One of the most critical challenges that ...humankind is facing is the scarcity of resources, which are expected to reach their limits in the foreseeable future. Associated with this, there is increasing waste generated as a consequence of rapid growth in the world population (particularly in urban areas) and a parallel rise in global income. To cope with these problems, a linear strategy has been applied to increase efficiency by reducing the use of materials and energy in order to lessen environmental impacts. However, this cradle to grave approach has proven inadequate, due to a lack of attention to several economic and social aspects. A paradigm shift is thus required to re-think and innovate processes (as early as in the design phase) in such a way that materials and energy are used more effectively within a closed-loop system. This strategy, known as the cradle-to-cradle approach, relies on the assumption that everything is a resource for something else since no waste is ever generated in nature. In line with the cradle-to-cradle approach, the bio-inspired circular economy concept aims at eco-effectiveness, rather than eco-efficiency. While the circular economy has neither a confirmed definition nor a standardized methodology, it nonetheless carries significant importance, since it “is restorative and regenerative by design and aims to keep products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value at all times, distinguishing between technical and biological cycles,” in accordance with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Despite some controversial opinions that “circles are not spirals, and for growth to occur, spirals with ever-increasing radii are required,” the circular economy concept is taking a central role in the sustainable development debate and, for this reason, deserves attention. The aim of this paper is to shed light on this debate, pointing out the main features of the emerging circular paradigm along with sustainability transition theories and circularity evaluation tools.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant vulnerabilities in systems of production and consumption. In particular, the economic and social implications of the pandemic highlighted the urgent need for ...more sustainable and less impactful practices of food production and consumption. Through a systematic literature review, this paper seeks to assess how the pandemic affected the phenomenon of food waste, with the aim of assessing whether the pandemic stimulated changes amongst food system actors, especially consumers. The findings indicate that consumers generally reported behavioural changes during the pandemic and claimed to have adopted sustainable practices that could contribute to reducing food waste. The results also reflect the rapid diffusion of practices such as food delivery during the pandemic, which requires further investigation in terms of its effects on the environment. Simultaneously, supply–demand shocks and disruptions were reported in the areas of production, processing, and retailing, suggesting the occurence of ripple effects. A call is made for greater resilience in the food system, through the adoption of sustainable and less impactful practices, supported by policy.
In this article, we analyze the role of social capital in the formation of sustainable energy communities. Specifically, we study the impact of different dimensions of social capital (i.e., ...structural, relational, cognitive) in determining willingness to participate in an energy community. Our survey data suggest that social contexts contribute to the development of energy communities, via (at least) two channels: (i) a family path, with individual perspectives showing a partial correlation with those of at least one relative, and (ii) a social channel, with higher social trust and greater interaction with neighbors favoring the propensity to participate in an energy community. The social coordination required for the formation of sustainable energy communities is determined by the quality of social interactions, and the spread of virtuous behavior is determined by not only economic policies (i.e., incentives), but also forward-looking policies favoring local aggregation and the creation of high-quality social capital. Thus, local actions and interactions can contribute to solving global climate change challenges.
Abstract
The use of renewable biological resources from the land and sea to produce food, materials and energy is one of the potential solutions to implement the green transition. The bioeconomy is ...developed in Europe, however it shows a different trend in several countries. The methodology used in this paper is based on multicriteria decision analysis and considers three parameters as criteria: workers, turnover and value added. This work investigates the bioeconomy sectors in 28 European countries using the socio-economic indicator for the bioeconomy (SEIB). We provide useful data for all stakeholders and propose a quantitative analysis emphasizing the contribution of each bio-based sector. The results show that Ireland is ahead of the Netherlands and Denmark in the SEIB for all sectors and leads in the SEIB for manufacturing and bio-energy sectors followed by Denmark. The differences with other European countries are significant. Some countries present a rather weak situation (Slovakia and Malta). The values of the SEIB are mainly linked to performance in two macro sectors: (a) agriculture and (b) manufacture of food, beverages and tobacco. The decomposition analysis highlights the performance of each country according to the socio-economic parameter and the bioeconomy sectors, and it is highlighted how performance monitoring allows for the identification of corrective actions. Some policy implications are proposed to support the development of bioeconomy sectors by targeting inter-connected challenges that aim to foster sustainability.
In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the need to analyze and measure the performance of sustainable transitions at a regional level. This work presents the results of an application ...of the socio-economic indicator for the bioeconomy (SEIB) to evaluate the socio-economic performance of the bioeconomy at a regional level, providing evidence for the Italian case. Two versions of the SEIB were applied: the first included all sectors of the bioeconomy while the second considered only manufacturing and bio-energy sectors, excluding all primary sectors. The indicator was further analyzed from spatial and longitudinal perspectives. The results showed that four regions (i.e. Trentino A.A. and Veneto in the north and Toscana and Umbria in central Italy) emerged among the five highest performing regions based on both versions of the indicator. Overall, the results underlined that the northern regions performed best when overall sectors were considered, while the central regions performed best when only manufacturing and bio-energy sectors were considered. What emerged most clearly, however, is that regions in southern Italy lagged far behind the national average, particularly when primary sectors were excluded from the analysis.
This study explores the impact of certification on decisions to invest in green bonds. Utilizing a laboratory experiment, we evaluate how different levels of certificate reliability stimulate ...investments in green bonds, particularly in the context of a green premium. The findings corroborate our hypothesis, showing that reliable certification encourages investors to accept lower returns in exchange for the conservation of natural resources. Importantly, reliable certification may counteract the decline in investments caused by “greenwashing” practices. Consequently, the establishment of a unified and dependable certification system may be crucial to ensure the green attributes sought by investors.
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