Fossil fuels account for more than 80% of the world’s energy consumption. Constituents of the atmosphere have changed perceptibly due to the increased use of fossil fuels. Therefore, many researchers have tried to relate their effect on society. In Pakistan, fossil fuel consumption and its CO₂-based emission factor have been significantly correlated to economic growth. However, it needs further attention to study the adverse effects of fossil fuels. This study is an attempt to assess the cost of fossil fuels to society. Damages caused by fossil fuels are evaluated for the years of 2005–2009, using local pollution factors based on CO₂ emission. Results show that the market price of fossil fuels increases after adding up the cost of damage caused by the final use of the fuel. People pay a huge amount of PKR 133 billion per year for taxes, health services, insurance premiums, and low living standards. Accordingly, it is suggested that we must shift from fossil fuels to other alternative clean types of energy.

Financial inclusion means that individuals and businesses can easily avail financial goods and services at an affordable cost. It is widely recognized that financial inclusion can help preserve the environment by increasing the consumption of renewable energy sources. Hence, our basic aim is to investigate whether financial inclusion has any effect on renewable energy consumption and environmental quality in China. To get the estimates of the variables, we have preferred the ARDL model. The estimates of the model confirm that a rise in the number of ATMs and total insurance has a positive impact on renewable energy consumption in China in the long run. Conversely, an increase in the number of ATMs and total insurance negatively affects CO₂ emissions in China. In general, we can say that financial inclusion increases renewable energy consumption and reduces CO₂ emissions in China. Therefore, by using financial inclusion, policymakers should try to divert the resources towards environmentally friendly consumption and production activities.

Few researches have inspected the task of green finance in reducing CO₂ emissions, while earlier studies have inspected the influence of economic development on carbon emissions. A green finance development index is built using four indicators to fill in this knowledge gap: green credit, green insurance, green securities, and green investing. Using data spanning the years 2005–2019, a panel quantile regression is applied to investigate the links between green finance, renewable energy, and CO₂ emissions. Increases in renewable energy use and advances in the green finance development index have contributed to a reduction in CO₂ emissions from BRICS countries. CO₂ emissions on the other hand slowed the growth of renewable energy use, slowed the flow of investment to green projects, and ultimately hampered the development of green finance. There was also a clear policy-driven influence on renewable energy spending in the countries of the BRICS region. Green finance policies, on the other hand, have consistently failed to have a long-term impact. Therefore, rising the consumption of renewable energy and creating a carbon trading market are all part of this study’s recommendations for green finance policy improvement.

Climate change is severely damaging the agricultural system of many food producing regions worldwide. Small/subsistent livestock herders are the most vulnerable and less resilient group towards climatic disasters within South Asian region including Pakistan. The adoption of climate-smart practices would be beneficial for small livestock herders because of its potential to ensure food security, improve income, and sustain development simultaneously. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors influencing small livestock herders’ adaptation decisions towards changing climate by conducting field-based research. We intend to understand how institutional factors, risk perceptions, adaptations, and personal constraints affect the adaptation decisions related to climate change mitigation and choice of adaptation strategies. For this purpose, a primary data set of 405 small livestock herders from Punjab, Pakistan was used. The regression results of empirical models reveal the probability of adopting specific climate change strategies. The study results showed that zero adaptation (non-adoption) to climate change is higher when there is low literacy rate, less experience, nuclear family system, lack of institutional services, and low level of risk perception about climate change. The marginal outcome showed that the livestock herders with positive risk perception and access to the institutional services do participate more frequently in a higher number of adaptations options for economic and ecological benefits. Therefore, it is suggested that government and other development actors should strengthen institutions for trust building among local community groups and to reduce individuals’ risks. Moreover, effective insurance schemes could facilitate small livestock herders to keep less but more productive livestock. The study recommends building viable and potential weather index insurance schemes which will result meaningful marginal scale benefits for smallholders. Finally, the results of major constraints suggest that it is necessary to provide awareness of climatic vulnerabilities, timely information delivery, and adequate financial facilities to offset resource constraints of livestock herders in order to adopt sustainable strategies at their farms.

This study set out to reveal to what extent women entrepreneurs operating in rural areas have been affected by environmental pollution and climate change. Besides, it emphasises how much they will be affected over the next 5 years throughout Turkey. The study covered rural areas of all seven regions in Turkey. Findings were analysed by using SPSS 23 programme. Women entrepreneurs were younger in less developed regions of the country, such as the Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern Anatolia, and were older in the more economically developed coastal areas. One-third of the respondents were microentrepreneurs; 12% employ five or more workers. The problems of rural women entrepreneurs are further complicated by environmental pollution and climate change. Among the significant environmental issues, women entrepreneurs endure a loss of income, loss of trade stock/goods, and loss of livestock, property damage and potable water supply. Women entrepreneurs agreed that, in the next 5 years, environmental problems would adversely affect customer demand, the quality of raw materials they use and the products they offer; therefore, customer demand would reduce. On the other hand, they were divided in their opinion about whether environmental problems will be affecting their business location and the need to invest in technology and equipment. The study showed that none of the participants obtained disaster insurance, and none of them was members of an environmental organisation.

The transformation of the traditional high-carbon economy to a low-carbon economy and the change in the economic development mode urgently require the transformation and development of traditional finance to green finance. This study examines the impact of green finance on the transition to a low-carbon economy in 30 Chinese provinces from 2001 to 2019 and further explores the role of low-carbon technological innovation in this facilitation process. We use the Global Malmquist- Luenberger index to measure low-carbon total factor productivity using gross regional product as the desired output, CO2 emissions as the undesired output, and capital stock, employment, and total energy consumption as input indicators to represent the low-carbon economic transition. We select seven indicators in four dimensions of green credit, green securities, green insurance, and green investment to construct a comprehensive green finance evaluation system, and then apply the entropy value method to calculate green finance indicators. The number of patents granted for low-carbon innovation is used to measure low-carbon technology innovation. Foreign direct investment, industrialization level, economic development level, and urbanization level are selected as control variables. Through panel data model, mediating effect model and 2SLS, we find that green finance can significantly contribute to the transformation of low-carbon economy, but this contribution decreases with the intervention of low-carbon technology innovation. The implications of our empirical results can help China to improve the development of green finance and thus promote the transformation and upgrading of a low-carbon economy.

Environmental finance has gradually become an important tool for solving atmospheric pollution problems. The creation of options based on an atmospheric environmental health index (AEHI) is designed to support a rational pricing of financial products related to the health of the atmospheric environment. To begin with, the improved Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model is established to predict the change in air pollutant concentrations, and then we construct the AEHI by using exposure-response Poisson regression model. In addition, an options pricing method for AEHI is proposed based on Esscher transform theory, and the universal investment strategy for enterprises is formulated to hedge operational risk by using the AEHI option. Finally, we use Beijing city of China, as a case study to demonstrate how to determine the AEHI options prices for two diseases in three age groups, and propose the investment strategy for an insurance enterprise. The AEHI options should therefore be used to compensate for the damage to human health caused by air pollution, and to hedge against the operational risks of related industries.

Over-reliance on pesticides for pest control is inflicting serious damage to the environmental services that underpin agricultural productivity. The widespread use of systemic insecticides, neonicotinoids, and the phenylpyrazole fipronil in particular is assessed here in terms of their actual use in pest management, effects on crop yields, and the development of pest resistance to these compounds in many crops after two decades of usage. Resistance can only be overcome in the longterm by implementing methods that are not exclusively based on synthetic pesticides. A diverse range of pest management tactics is already available, all of which can achieve efficient pest control below the economic injury level while maintaining the productivity of the crops. A novel insurance method against crop failure is shown here as an example of alternative methods that can protect farmer’s crops and their livelihoods without having to use insecticides. Finally, some concluding remarks about the need for a new framework for a truly sustainable agriculture that relies mainly on natural ecosystem services instead of chemicals are included; this reinforcing the previous WIA conclusions (van der Sluijs et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22:148-154, 2015).

Studies reveal that climate change (CC) has higher negative impacts on agricultural production than positive impacts. Therefore, this article attempts to explore the impacts of CC on oil palm production in Malaysia and provides mitigation and adaptation strategies towards reducing such impacts. The multiple regression analysis is applied to assess the impacts of CC on oil palm production by using time series data in the period of 1980 to 2010. A negative and significant relationship is found between annual average temperature and oil palm production. If temperature rises by 1 °C, 2 °C, 3 °C, and 4 °C, production of oil palm can decrease from a range of 10 to 41%. This article has also found a negative impact of sea level rise (SLR) on oil palm production. Findings reveal that if areas under oil palm production decrease by 2%, 4%, and 8% due to SLR of 0.5, 1, and 2 m, oil palm production can decrease by 1.98%, 3.96%, and 7.92%, respectively, indicating that CC has a significant impact on the reduction of oil palm production in Malaysia, ultimately affecting the sustainability of oil palm sector in Malaysia. Finally, this study suggests to practice appropriate mitigation and adaptation strategies, including promotion and development of climate resilient varieties, soil and water conservation, afforestation, insurance and other risk transfer mechanisms, emission reduction technology, protection of coastal flooding for reducing the impacts of CC on oil palm production.

We used an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) modeling to investigate the short- and long-term effects of climate change on Tunisian cereal farming. The Pooled Mean Group (PMG) estimation as well as Granger causality tests conducted on a regional panel of the country, covering a time horizon from 1975 to 2014, showed that climate change issues still persist in Tunisia, affecting negatively and increasingly the cereal output. This study proves that negative effects of climate are rather felt when there is a shortage of rainfall, whereas the current temperature levels are still in favor of cereal crop. The findings indicate that cereal farming requires a continuous technology pack deployment and a favorable climate. However, an unanticipated long-run relationship has been observed between cereal production and labor. As a result of this research, recommendations were built around two major strategies, namely yield improvement and farmers’ income stabilization to mitigate the unpredictable effects of climate change and hazardous events. The implementation of a production and regional specialization map and the adoption of an anti-drought insurance system in addition to compensation payment would be a suitable adaptation policy to climate change effects and for the sustainability of Tunisian agriculture.