Companies and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

This chapter explores the role that the private sector assumes in promoting sustainable development and fighting economic, social, and environmental international challenges by working on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. From a theoretical approach, the chapter provides a literature review on business strategies (i.e., corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship) that can align business goals with the SDGs. It also presents a discussion on the main benefits of working on the SDGs (i.e., social impact and business value) that serves as a rationale for companies to invest in social and environmental programs. The chapter concludes with an overview of recent literature that has explored the corporate-SDGs intersection, which assists the authors in identifying gaps in current literature and relevant areas of future research on the involvement of the private sector in the Agenda 2030.

The importance of environmental programs in the universities

The article provides the study on the details of the value model of modern graduates of environmental programs of the university. The authors substantiated the relevance of theoretical analysis and empirical research of the value profile of graduates of environmental programs of the university. Empirical data is from a questionnaire survey of 329 graduates of environmental programs from universities in the South of Russia, training in this area. Statistical analysis of the data was carried out using the SPSS program (version 21). Conclusions are made showing the typology of value models that have developed at the present time among this category of young specialists. We proposed the directions of further research of the process of forming the values of graduates of environmental programs during the period of study at the university.

Advancing Paulinian Core Values As SPUP’s Response To Climate Change

With the adverse effects of Climate Change in the environment, it is necessary to critically examine attitudes and behaviors relevant to environmental values. Highlighting the incorporation of the Paulinian Core Values, St. Paul University Philippines (SPUP) fostered environmental programs, projects, activities, and partnerships towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on Climate Change. Utilizing the descriptive research design, this study examined the extent of integration of the Paulinian Core Values, namely: Christ-centeredness, Commission, Charity, Charism, and Community in the implementation of SPUP’s Climate Change initiatives. With participants composed of teachers, students, alumni, and members of partner-communities, the results showed that the degree of integration of the Paulinian Core Values in the realization of the University’s Climate Change-related endeavors is gauged to a “Very Great Extent”. Moreover, the findings also demonstrated the ability of SPUP to foster relevant and responsive environmental advocacy in engaging its academic and partner-communities towards the advancement of its Climate Change undertakings. This is reflected in the paradigm on SPUP Environmental Core Values, where the principles of ecological spirituality, environmental integrity, environmental justice, environmental engagement, and environmental stewardship are advanced vis-à-vis the Paulinian Core Values. KEYWORDS: St. Paul University Philippines, Climate Change initiatives, Paulinian Core Values, Environmental advocacy, SPUP Environmental Core Values

Importance and Problems of Landscape Diversity Conservation in the Environmental Policy of Poorly Developed Regions

The environmental strategy for regional development is implemented through regional environmental programs. Their list of indicators that track the effectiveness of planned tasks shows that the most important regional aspects are not always properly reflected. The specificity of spatial and temporal trends in the development of regions, the peculiarities of territorial changes in geosystems, and the dynamics of the ratio of disturbed and undisturbed territories are of particular importance in highlighting the tasks in the context of the application of particular indicators. In the context of increased economic activity in the Russian Far East, facilitated by the policy of improving priority social and economic development areas, the regions identify their own tasks for sustainable development. From the perspective of the geographical approach, the content of the concept of landscape diversity, contained in the environmental program of Khabarovsk Territory to reflect spatial changes, is briefly presented. Landscapes as integral systems are considered from the point of view of their positions in the system of taxa of the regional hierarchy. The significance of “landscape diversity conservation” criterion for solving the same problem as a priority for this territory has been shown. The necessity of its application in the region has been considered due to the concentration of natural complexes of a high hierarchical rank, their significant share within the region, the uniqueness and at the same time a high degree of landscape vulnerability to anthropogenic impact due to increased economic activity, the imperfection of the PA network etc.

Ecological safety of the region`s population in the aspect of the logistic-activity approach to its formation and legal regulation

The issues of ensuring the ecological safety of the region`s population are actualized in the context of the growth increasing in the natural resources, accompanied by the increase in anthropogenic pressures on the environment and humans, aggravation of environmental problems, deterioration of the life quality and environmental conditions of activity in the region. The aim of the study is to develop the theoretical foundations for ensuring the ecological safety of the population of the region on the basis of a logistic-activity approach to its formation in the context of legal regulation of the environmental management process as a factor in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing energy efficiency.Using the methods of economic and mathematical modeling it is substantiated the existence of the relationship between the level of ecological safety of the region’s population and the amount of the funds from the budget allocated to finance environmental programs. Improving the legal regulation of the processes of ensuring the ecological safety of the region’s population for optimizing the budget expenditures for the implementation of environmental programs will create the conditions for realizing the economic potential of the region’s development, increasing the level and quality of life of the population.

The Turkish Cypriot Municipalities’ Productivity and Performance: An Application of Data Envelopment Analysis and the Tobit Model

Nowadays, countries are more concerned with the improvement of effectiveness and efficiency in public sector activities in the perspective of frugal innovation. The problem centers around how to obtain more and better public service with the limitations of the public incomes and indebtedness in preserving environmental conditions. This paper empirically investigates the efficiency, technical efficiency, productivity, and the determinants factor of implementing sustainable development policy of the five major municipalities in North Cyprus by conducting DEA and Tobit analyses during the period from 2004 to 2018 quarterly. The empirical results show that the size of the economically active population of a city, lower expenditures, and grants result in a higher efficiency, whereas the independent revenue sources (grants) and the per capita expenditures of North Cypriot municipalities have a negative effect on the efficiency. The employment rate in the municipalities has a considerable negative effect on the efficiency score. The results of Tobit analysis also show that population has a positive impact which may increase the technical efficiency. Finally, the findings of this study demonstrated that implementing proper environmental programs not only improve the efficiency of local government but also help the ecological sustainability and the geographical location of the regional changes and barriers for sustainable initiatives by using proper waste mechanism, clean water technology, and solar lighting.

Join In . . . and Drop Out? Firm Adoption of and Disengagement From Voluntary Environmental Programs

Voluntary environmental programs (VEPs) offer opportunities for companies and stakeholders to improve environmental outcomes valued by society in the absence of regulatory mandates. Research has addressed numerous antecedents for firm adoption of VEPs, enhancing knowledge of how stakeholders and firms engage on substantive issues of public importance. However, program adoption is dynamic, and stagnant participation rates may threaten program longevity when firms do not realize expected benefits. Prior literature has not sufficiently addressed the factors that compel firms to drop out. In this study I articulate three consequential drivers of firm commitment to VEPs—transparency, effort, and achievement—and empirically estimate their effects on firm disengagement from one such prominent program: CDP (formerly known as Carbon Disclosure Project). Findings indicate that firm transparency and effort represent powerful commitment mechanisms driving continued program participation. This study contributes to theory over multiple literatures related to VEP participation and offers practical guidance for both VEPs and firms.

Environmental and Ethno-Cultural Groups Working Together: an Examination of Toronto Based Environmental Programs

This research explores how environmental groups in Toronto are encouraging ethno-cultural groups to participate in environmental activities. This research intersects three areas: the environmental movement, volunteering, and ethno-cultural diversity. A literature review of these areas was undertaken. Semi-structured interviews with key informants from environmental groups in Toronto were conducted. Key informants were individuals involved in the planning and implementation of selected environmental programs. The findings of this research suggest: [1] the terms volunteer and participant can have different meanings; [2] ethno-culturally specific data is not collected by environmental groups; [3] environmental groups do no[t] ask volunteers and participants about motivation; [4] local interactions are important; [5] environmental programs are multi-faceted; [6] environmental groups do not work in isolation; [7] funding affects long-term planning; [8] ethno-cultural sensitivity is important. Based on these findings, best practices of how environmental groups can encourage ethno-cultural groups to participate in environmental activities are proposed.