Electric Vehicles (EVs) are gaining traction globally due to their potential for energy efficiency and emission reduction. In Malaysia, where the government is actively promoting EV adoption, market sentiment plays a critical role. Most existing studies on EV market sentiment in Malaysia rely heavily on survey-based methods, which may be limited in both scale and objectivity. This study applies text mining techniques, specifically topic modelling and sentiment analysis to examine Malaysian consumers’ attitudes toward EVs using user comments from a major national automotive information website. A total of 9,618 user comments between January 2023 and February 2024 were analysed using LDA/VADER. The results indicate that “price” is the most frequently mentioned keyword, while key discussion topics include market trends, government incentives, battery and charging, and product features. Sentiment analysis suggests that consumers hold a mildly positive or curious attitude toward EVs. These findings provide practical insights for policymakers seeking to enhance market engagement and accelerate EV adoption in Malaysia.

There are still 719 million people living in absolute poverty worldwide, and they account for 64% of the total number of people engaged in agriculture. Based on this, this paper examines whether there is a “threshold effect” in the moderating mechanism of digital infrastructure on the effectiveness of microfinance in alleviating poverty among farmers by employing Dynamic Common Correlated Effects estimation based on panel data of 148 observations from six South Asian countries (2000–2024). We found three key “activation thresholds”: when the proportion of internet users in the population is lower than 8%, microfinance has little effect on reducing poverty; when it reaches 20%, microfinance shows some effectiveness in promoting development; once this ratio increases further to 65%, microfinance will produce a “multiplicative effect.” The interaction term coefficient (−0.0428) at the 1% significance level indicates that every time internet users increase by 10% points, microfinance’s ability to alleviate poverty will be enhanced by 4.28% points.The results show that there exist two thresholds. First, if a community already has some existing microloans but no Internet access yet (below the first threshold), adding new microloans will have no additional effects on reducing poverty. Second, once Internet access reaches a certain level (above the second threshold), adding more microloans would further decrease poverty, i.e., there is a super-additive effect between microloans and Internet access.

Abstract This study investigates whether information and communication technology (ICT) improves microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) dual efficiency—financial sustainability and social outreach—and how governance conditions these effects in South Asia. Using panel data on 182 MFIs from six South Asian countries over 2009–2018, we measure time-varying efficiency with the DEA-based SBM-GML index, estimate the effects of ICT development and governance on MFI efficiency. Results show that ICT development, especially greater internet usage, significantly raises financial efficiency by reducing operating and transaction costs and also supports outreach expansion (more active clients and higher average loan size). The impact is strongly governance-contingent: once governance exceeds a critical threshold, ICT’s positive effect on financial efficiency is amplified, whereas under weak governance the social-efficiency gains from ICT are partially constrained. These findings imply that ICT-led improvements in microfinance are not automatic; policies should jointly expand affordable digital infrastructure and strengthen governance capacity to maximize both sustainability and inclusion in South Asia.

The benefits of affordable housing extend beyond the number of units built or households housed. The most significant difficulty in the assessment of affordable housing is to measure the cultural, social, and environmental impacts which are often considered 'intangible' and sometimes overlooked. This research involved a literature review, analysis of existing SROI studies of affordable housing, and construction of a Framework for determining the SROI for investments in affordable housing. This paper provides a proposed framework for using the Social Return on Investment (SROI) as a viable way to demonstrate the impact of government spending on housing by attaching a monetary value to the benefits housing brings to residents, housing providers, and the local economy.

This paper examines the effect of wood fuel energy consumption on forest degradation at regional and sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa by taking into consideration the role of control of corruption and government effectiveness. To achieve the objective of the study, system generalized method of moments was used on a sample of 45 sub-Saharan African countries over the 2005–2013 period. The estimated results of the study revealed that wood fuel consumption impact positively on forest degradation at sub-Saharan Africa’s level. In other words, the finding indicated that wood fuel consumption is a significant driver of forest degradation at the regional level of sub-Saharan Africa. While at sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa, the result revealed that wood fuel consumption impact positively on forest degradation in southern, western, and central Africa only. In summary, the finding showed that forest degradation is increased by wood fuel consumption at both regional and sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa with the exception of east Africa where the impact of wood fuel consumption on forest degradation is insignificant. On the other hand, control of corruption and government effectiveness were found to have negative effect on forest degradation at both regional and sub-regional levels of sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, intensifying fight against corruption and ensuring effective governance can assist to reduce degradation of forests in the region. As such, policy makers should focus on improving these institutional quality indicators to fight degradation of forests in the region.

Abstract The 2009 National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP) required EU member states to introduce incentive mechanisms aimed at promoting IPR in offshore solar development. The primary objectives were to increase the proportion of offshore solar energy in the overall energy mix and to reduce environmental pollution. The study utilizes a heterogeneous timing difference-in-differences model, drawing on panel data from 27 EU countries covering the period from 1990 to 2023. This approach enables an assessment of how effective NREAP implementation has influenced offshore solar IPR and its subsequent impact on marine environments and ecosystems. Policy implementation in Western EU countries has had a notably positive effect on the advancement of offshore solar IPR and, as a result, on marine protection. In contrast, Central and Eastern EU states have experienced less pronounced benefits from similar policy measures. The validity of these findings is supported by a placebo test, confirming the robustness of the results. The study concludes by offering recommendations to enhance the competitiveness of offshore solar power projects across the EU. Strengthening IPR frameworks and ensuring consistent policy implementation are identified as key steps toward achieving broader adoption and improved environmental outcomes.

Ocean-sourced foods are essential for providing food security, putting an end to starvation, and building healthy, environmentally friendly, and resilient food systems. Still, it is important to keep these in mind while discussing food. More money was made for developing countries by exporting blue foods than by exporting any other agricultural products combined. The European Union Region (EU27) has countries with diverse economic structures, from highly developed industrial economies in older members to those in Central and Eastern Europe still catching up. Splitting them allows for in-depth study of economic structures, models, and growth mechanisms, and can inform targeted policy recommendations for growth and convergence. The core objective of this study is to analyse how aquaculture and fisheries production impact food security in the EU2 members based on their economic structure development; European Union Developing State (EU13) and European Union Developed State (EU14) countries from 1990 to 2023. To address potential endogeneity issues, robust least squares (RLS), two-stage least squares (2SLS), and ordinary least squares (OLS) estimators were employed, leading to significant findings. The findings confirm the existing knowledge and indicate that the role of aquaculture and fisheries production in ensuring food security is more pronounced in developing EU13 countries compared to wealthier EU14 countries. Aligning with existing knowledge, the analysis reveals that factors such as gross domestic product (GDP) and governance play a more crucial role in ensuring sustainable food security in developing EU13 countries relative to their wealthier EU14 counterparts. The reliance on fossil fuels has a more pronounced impact on food insecurity in developed EU14 nations compared to developing EU13 countries. This study suggests that policymakers in the EU14 developed countries provide policies targeted at promoting the growth of aquaculture production and fisheries production top priority based on the research conclusions. Additionally, this study suggests that policymakers in the industrialized EU14 countries improve governance, aquaculture economics, fisheries economics, and the efficiency of fossil fuel usage.

In the face of global economic challenges, understanding the relationship between natural resources and financial development is crucial for sustainable development. Sub-Saharan Africa is abundant in natural resources, yet institutional weaknesses frequently limit its potential. This situation enables us to analyse how economic freedom could leverage these resources to enhance financial development. This study explores the nexus between natural resources (NR), economic freedom (EF), and financial development (FD) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Utilising a Dynamic Panel Threshold (DPT) estimator across 33 countries from 2005 to 2021, an EF threshold of 0.804 is identified. Below this threshold, NR negatively impacts FD, indicating a Financial Resource Curse (FRC) due to weak economic institutions. However, when EF exceeds this level, the curse dissipates, allowing NR to foster FD. Our findings, supported by robust testing through Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) and system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) estimators, highlight the critical need for policymakers to invest NR revenues in institutional development. By doing so, SSA can transform resource wealth into a catalyst for financial development and economic prosperity.

The European Union (EU27) faces significant challenges in enhancing the global competitiveness of its aquaculture market, such as stagnant production, high production costs, competition from cheaper imports, focus on sustainability, and consumer preferences. Thus, the main goal of this research is to explore how factors related to global competitiveness influenced the growth of the aquaculture sector in the EU27 from 1990 to 2023. The methods of ordinary least squares (OLS), two-stage least squares (2SLS), and robust least squares (RLS) estimations were used to address the endogeneity problem to arrive at the most important results. The effect sizes indicate that the system of innovation and human capital have a greater influence on the development of the aquaculture sector in the highly developed EU14 countries compared to the developing EU13 nations. The exact outcomes of the applied methods, however, demonstrate that the aquaculture market’s expansion in EU13 developing nations is more influenced by market size, institutional quality, and economic growth compared to EU14 members. This study recommends that the EU27 region emphasize policy adjustments to balance sustainability with competitiveness, which includes streamlining regulations, improving access to financing, and fostering innovation in aquaculture technologies.

This study aims to investigate the impacts of information, communication, and technology (ICT) factors and economic growth on the hydropower output in the European Union (EU) states from 1990 to 2021. Adopting the autoregressive distributed lag, findings from this study revealed that there could be a significant increase in the hydropower industry growth in EU14 emerging economies using ICT factors than in EU13 emerging economies. It was also discovered that economic growth makes more of a significant contribution to hydropower growth in EU13 emerging economies than in EU14 emerging economies. Findings from this study further revealed that there could be a significant decrease in the carbon dioxide emissions among the EU14 emerged economies using hydropower output than in EU13 emerging economies. This points to the fact that hydropower growth in EU region countries could significantly be enhanced by increasing the level of ICT determinants to achieve Energy Union aims by 2030. This will as well be effective in minimizing or reducing the risk effect of climate change and environmental pollution. Using the pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect methods, the projected calculations are observed to be valid and this study recommended that EU nations should intensify the use of ICT in achieving sustainable environmental and societal goals. The sustainability and security of hydropower production could also be enhanced through legislation. Lawmakers should become active in the green ICT aspects.

This study's main goal is to evaluate how the research will look at the impact of geothermal energy production on the quality of the subterranean in the 27 European nations from 1990 to 2021. A considerable decline in the subterranean water supply can occur in EU14 emerging nations employing geothermal energy growth compared to EU13 emerging economies, according to research that uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL). Fossil fuel use, population growth, and economic expansion are some factors that have a more detrimental effect on the subterranean water supply in EU14 emerging economies than in EU13 emerging nations. In contrast, the study's findings indicate that EU13 emerging nations may be better able to enhance their underground water supply than EU14 emerging economies because of more effective institutional qualities. The findings so indicate that increasing the amount of geothermal energy generation among the 27 European Union countries can accelerate subsurface water degradation at a high capacity and help achieve unionism's 2030 energy-related goals. When this is achieved, climate change will be put to check, as pollution of the environment. All calculations projected were seen to be of a good level of validity, and this is ascertained through three estimators considered in this study.

A mixture of oil consumption, toxic waste, chemicals, and plastic debris from fisheries operations may dissolve and suck oxygen from marine water, turning saltwater into poison for marine animals and ecosystems, as shown by the invisible marine water catastrophe. The study is to examine the dynamic relationship between the fishing industry and marine water pollution in 27 European countries between 1990 and 2022, with a particular emphasis on the roles played by economic development, governance, fisheries productivity, and the use of fossil fuels. The results show that increasing fishing productivity dramatically increases marine water pollution across most quantiles. Fixed-effect variables were used in conjunction with the Mixed Methods Quantile Regression. Marine pollution is significantly worsened by fishing activity at both the lower and upper quantiles; the effect is stronger at the higher quantiles and less pronounced at the lower ones. Additionally, the statistics show that developed EU14 countries have higher levels of fisheries output than developing EU13 countries, which contributes to a greater degree of contamination of marine waters. Furthermore, compared to the developed EU14 countries, the developing EU13 countries have seen a sharp increase in marine pollution due to the use of fossil fuels. In the developed EU-14 countries, economic expansion reduces the quality of sea water in all quantiles, hence bolstering the growth hypothesis for fish-producing countries. Only the early and later quantiles in the EU14 developed countries showed a statistically significant effect from ocean governance, with a negative influence extending from the first to the sixth quantile. To lessen marine pollution in both EU14 and EU13 countries, policymakers should promote the use of eco-friendly fishing gear, sustainable fishing techniques, and energy technologies like tidal and wave power.

If unauthorized resource use is prevented, managing marine resources by allocating property rights may match economic and environmental conservation incentives. However, because of the developing exploitation of marine resources and accompanying pollution, species' living conditions in Europe's waters are changing more quickly than before. By considering the roles of fisheries productivity, intellectual property rights, intellectual capital rights, market size, governance, and economic growth from 1990 to 2022, this paper aims to investigate the dynamic effect of property rights factors on the sustainability of the fisheries industry in 27 European countries. At higher quantiles, the findings showed a significant positive association between governance and fisheries sustainability adopting a new method, the MMQR with fixed effects, the Method of Moments Quantile Regression. In addition, in EU27 nations, the impact of intellectual property rights was favorable and statistically significant from the first to ninth quantiles. The findings show that the EU14 developed nations have more excellent governance and intellectual capital rights than the EU13 developing countries, significantly benefiting fisheries sustainability. In the same way that market size and economic growth condense fisheries sustainability in EU14 developed and EU13 developing countries, it has been discovered that intellectual property rights do the same across all quantiles, supporting the growth hypothesis for fisheries-producing countries. The findings specifically show that the beneficial solid impact of intellectual property rights, market size, and economic development on the sustainability of fisheries is more significant in EU13 developing nations than in EU14 developed countries. These results provide policymakers with helpful information for promoting property rights aspects in EU14 and EU13 nations via effective green technologies in the fisheries sector to meet sustainable development objectives.

Sub-Saharan African (SSA) nations are falling behind in human development when compared to other regions globally, despite their abundant natural resources. Several Sub-Saharan African states have an underdeveloped financial structure, leading to underutilization of natural resource profits for human development. This research examines how the level of financial development impacts the relationship between natural resource rents and sustainable human development in 40 SSA countries from 2005 to 2019. This research used the dynamic panel threshold (DPT) approach, an advanced econometric methodology designed to address concerns often seen in panel data such as endogeneity, cross-sectional dependence, and heterogeneity. The cointegration findings showed a long-term association among the variables. The dynamic panel threshold analysis showed that natural resource rent had a detrimental influence on human capital development when financial development was below a certain threshold. Conversely, the outcomes were different when financial development exceeded the threshold. Financial system progress in Sub-Saharan African states considerably uses resource windfalls to improve sustainable human development. This research conducted robustness tests by using alternative estimates excluding outlier sample countries and extra proxies. The conclusions remained unchanged. Policy suggestions were introduced to enhance the financial sector and improve institutional quality in order to ensure sustainable growth in the SSA area.

The ocean, and the life that dwells in it, is the largest carbon sink of our planet, absorbing more than 25 percent of all CO2 emissions, and over 90 percent of the excess heat generated by humans The ocean, and the life that dwells in it, is the largest carbon sink of our planet, absorbing more than 25 percent of all CO2 emissions, and over 90 percent of the excess heat generated by humans. The task today is for the EU to demonstrate leadership in guiding international ocean governance towards more ocean protection and sustainable management, as the European Green Deal seeks to make the EU a model for marine global sustainability. This paper aims to investigate the dynamic impact of global governance on the sustainability of the fisheries industry in 27 European countries by considering the role of fisheries production and global governance factors over the period 1996–2022. This paper will explore the marine and governance challenges that currently threaten the health of the EU Ocean and living species. The findings showed a substantial positive link between public sector quality, economic growth, economic stability, and the dependent variable fisheries sustainability across all quantiles, and this is achieved by adopting a new method, and this is the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) that is in conjunction with fixed factors. Additionally, at the most recent quantiles in the EU27 nations, the impacts of private sector quality and property rights variables on fisheries sustainability were positively significant. However, the effects of individual interest and the sustainability of the fisheries were negatively substantial at the most recent quantiles in the EU27 nations. At the same time, they are having a beneficial, considerable impact on the middle quantiles in EU27 countries, social development, and fisheries sustainability. In particular, the results show that the significant positive effects of economic stability, growth, property rights, public sector quality, and private sector quality on fisheries sustainability are higher in EU13 developing countries than in EU14 developed countries, supporting the growth hypothesis for countries that produce fisheries. Conversely, the findings show that developed EU14 countries have a more significant impact on social development's favorable impact on fisheries sustainability than developing EU13 nations. With the use of effective technology and environmentally responsible investments in the fisheries sector, policymakers may advance marine and ocean governance in the EU14 and EU13 nations and meet sustainable development objectives.

There are many advantages of geothermal energy, as an environmentally friendly resource; however, for these benefits of geothermal power to be fully maximized, there are some problems that need to be addressed. The primary objective of this research was to examine the influence of intellectual property (IP) rights and economic growth on the geothermal energy output among the 27 European countries within the time frame 1990 to 2021. This study adopts auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL). The findings show that a significant increase in the geothermal energy industry sustainability can occur in EU14 emerged economies using IP rights than in EU13 emerging economies. The major contributions of the research are that among additional factors, intellectual capital, market size, intuitional quality, and economic growth contribute more positively to geothermal energy sustainability in EU14 emerged economies than in EU13 emerging economies. Results from the analysis show geothermal power sustainability among the 27 European countries could be boosted significantly by adequately putting in place the determining factors of IP as this will foster the attainment of aims behind the energy union by the year 2030. This will no doubt be of help in curbing climate change and environmental pollution in society. The projected calculations were validated through the three estimators adopted for this study, that is, the pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect. The policy implication pointed out by this study the European nations in this study need to make IP indicators to be more effective as this helps in achieving societal and environmental goals. Moreover, the authorities in charge of lawmaking in European countries should focus more on IP areas to ensure the sustainability of geothermal energy generation. Also, authorities in charge of policymaking in the European nations should foster commixture strategies that are sustainable in enhancing IP breakdown as this will assist in fostering geothermal power exploration, thereby reducing the need for fossil fuels which will also carbon dioxide emission in the years to come.

Economic development, environmental quality and residents’ health are significant topics in sustainability. The relationship between them can, to some extent, determine the potential for sustainable development in the region. The Yellow River basin (YRB) in China has an important strategic position of water conservation, ecological protection, and stability and unity of ethnic minorities for the whole China. Therefore, it is of great significance to study the relationship there. Using balanced panel data from 2014 to 2019, this paper selected carbon emissions intensity, gross domestic products per capita, and proportion of private health expenditure to consumption of nine provinces in the YRB as research variables, constructed a PVAR model, and analyzed and studied the interaction among them. The research shown that the three variables have close impulse and response relationship. The improvement in economic development and public health would stimulate carbon emissions. However, the intensity of carbon emissions increment will basically not affect the physical health of local residents, but might hinder economic development. In order to ensure the high-quality development of the YRB in China, the harmonious and coordinated development of the relationship among these sectors is essential.

This empirical study investigates the impact of deforestation on energy security in sub-Saharan Africa. To achieve this, we explored the intricate dynamics between deforestation, key energy security indicators, and socio-economic factors in sub-Saharan Africa. We employed a comprehensive dataset and analysed it with system GMM methodology and difference GMM and pooled OLS as robustness checks. The study validates the model’s suitability and confirms a significant negative relationship between deforestation rates and energy security. A central finding is the consistently negative impact of deforestation on energy security across various models. Diminishing forest cover is shown to jeopardise a nation’s ability to meet energy demands, underscoring the urgent need for policies promoting forest conservation and sustainable management. The study also identifies positive associations between energy security and total primary energy supply, per capita energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, and renewable energy. Higher energy supply and consumption and increased reliance on renewables contribute to enhanced energy security. However, unchecked population growth is highlighted as a potential impediment. Policy implications advocate for comprehensive interventions, emphasising conservation strategies, renewable energy adoption, and population management. It also calls for foreign trade policies that emphasise timber certification and sustainability agreements to protect forest resources alongside regional security measures and collaborative guidelines for sustainable forest management. The findings provide a nuanced understanding for policymakers, offering a roadmap to navigate challenges and opportunities in pursuing sustainable and secure energy systems in sub-Saharan Africa.