The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have negatively affected the sustainability of the food market and contributed significantly to the increase in agricultural prices. The goal of this article is to present the results of a European Delphi study on enabling factors and barriers to developing robustness within food distribution networks. The paper also aims to identify ways to ensure food security and build resilience in supply chains for European Union (EU) citizens, as well as strategies to protect the agricultural sector. The Delphi theses, the expected timing of their implementation and their impact on selected stages of supply chains were assessed. The paper employs a literature review, the Delphi method and STEEPED analysis to identify factors for increasing the robustness of European food distribution networks. The research findings highlighted crucial factors in enhancing food supply chain resilience, including financial aid to farmers, the use of advanced technologies (like AI, remote sensing, GIS, VR, or drones), and the encouragement of conscious consumption practices. The study revealed that severe weather, inadequate financial support for farmers and insufficient favourable legislation at the national level are the main barriers to achieving resilience in food supply chains. The main recommendations for building food resilience include encouraging localised food supply chains and, advocating for eco-friendly, sustainable production approaches and small-scale agriculture and reducing unnecessary food losses. The originality of the study is reflected in the presentation of the opinions of international experts on developing robustness within food distribution networks in view of the disruption caused by COVID-19 and the geopolitical situation.
Poultry meat consumption is a significant element in Poland's overall food consumption. Economic considerations mean that both nationally and globally, conventional intensive rearing dominates. Nevertheless, environmental and health aspects or the will to treat animals humanely make pro-environmental rearing systems increasingly common. The purpose of this article is an environmental analysis of an example farm engaged in intensive rearing of slaughtered poultry (so-called baseline production). For the analysed production, the following scenarios of changes were proposed: (a) conventional rearing based on the use of own fodder, and (b) organic rearing using free range and own organic fodder. An emergy approach was applied in this analysis. Comparison of different production systems using emergy analysis made it possible to show the scale of environmental resource commitment for baseline and scenario-based productions, and to determine the amount of renewable and non-renewable emergy consumed per unit of production. Through the use of selected emergy indicators, e.g.: Environmental Loading Ratio (ELR), Emergy Yield Ratio (EYR), the environmental impact for each case was determined. For the ecological system scenario, the need to change production parameters (stocking rate, maximum poultry house area, free range) was taken into account. The results of the emergy-based indicators showed that the baseline production places the greatest burden on the environment and is the least sustainable. The organic system is the opposite; however, due to production limitations and the lower production efficiency achieved, it may not be economically viable to orient a farm exclusively to the organic system. In an environmental assessment, the information obtained can provide valuable guidance to agricultural producers. They can help make informed decisions on natural resource management to achieve environmental security. The results are also important for political decision-makers in creating policies for more sustainable agricultural production. The results obtained are discussed, pointing out the importance of the analysis used mainly from an environmental point of view.
The development of a green economy in a situation of resource scarcity, global climate change, and environmental degradation means entering a new path of socio-economic development that will more effectively implement the goals of sustainable development. The level of its regional polarisation is stimulated by demographic, natural and technological, economic and social factors. The aim of the research was to identify and assess the level of regional polarisation in terms of the development of the green economy in voivodeships in Poland using a synthetic measure. The basis for the analysis was a set of substantively and statistically analysed diagnostic variables from 2010-2020 available in Statistics Poland. The result of the analysis was the presentation of regional polarisation and the ordering of voivodeships in Poland in 2010-2020 in terms of the synthetic measure - green economy. The green economy of voivodeships should be built based on available endogenous resources and planning and organisational solutions specific to the voivodeship. Using a synthetic measure to assess activities in the area of the green economy makes it possible to evaluate the effects and take corrective measures of the voivodeships' in this area.
The aim is to verify which financial, spatial and systemic importance variables interact with ESG scoring. Based on data from 628 banks from 63 countries, a multinomial ordered logit model was built with the explanatory variables of Sustainalytics and Moody's ESG scores. Results indicate that membership in the EU, being an SIB, capitalisation, and revenues have a positive effect on ESG. In contrast, an increase in leverage, NPL ratio, and profitability are associated with a deterioration in scorings. Results differ in terms of the spatial aspect (in the case of Sustainalytics, additionally, location in the US favours ESG scoring) and the spectrum of systemic importance (in the case of Moody's, it is both global and local dimensions). This study is the first attempt to identify common (to different methodologies) determinants of ESG scoring. Its originality is also determined by the demonstration of a relationship between spatial variables and SIB's membership and ESG scoring.
The aim of the article is to determine differences in getting rid of unnecessary but operational items from households by young and older people. This is a significant problem from the point of view of the implementation of the principles of the circular economy because successful implementation of the circular economy system in municipalities depends on the habits and behaviour of consumers. The article is of a research nature. The survey was conducted in January 2020 using the CAWI method on a representative sample of n=1012 adult Polish residents aged 18 to 60. In the case of most of the product categories studied, there are differences in the way young and older people deal with unnecessary items. Younger people are more willing to buy new things, but on a positive note, they also often declare willingness to resell products they no longer need. However, an unfavourable phenomenon is the inclination of young people to store unnecessary items in their households. Older people - in the case of most of the products tested - are willing to give them free of charge to people in need. By knowing which groups of subjects deal with unnecessary objects less responsibly, one will be able to take targeted actions to change their behaviour.
