Blockchain Papers

Rejaul Karim, Md. Mustaqim Roshid, Bablu Kumar Dhar, Abdul Waaje

This study explores the evolving role of green financial technology (Fintech) in sustainability-oriented financial innovation, with a particular focus on climate finance, digital innovation, and environmental governance. Using bibliometric methods, we analyze 72 peer-reviewed publications indexed in Scopus from 2019 to 2024 to map the intellectual structure and emerging trends of green Fintech research. Key technological domains, including blockchain-based carbon markets, AI-powered ESG analytics, and green digital payment systems, are frequently associated in the literature with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). This analysis reveals how digital financial innovations are conceptualized as mechanisms for facilitating access to green capital, strengthening carbon credit ecosystems, and enhancing transparency in climate-aligned investment. However, persistent barriers such as fragmented regulatory frameworks, cybersecurity risks, and digital divides are recurrently identified in the literature as constraints, particularly in emerging economies. Interpreted through Institutional Theory and Stakeholder Theory, the study highlights the importance of coordinated policy innovation, inclusive digital infrastructure, and harmonized ESG standards in shaping the diffusion and governance of green Fintech solutions. By positioning theory as an interpretive lens rather than an empirical test , this research offers a theory-informed, data-driven synthesis that contributes to the growing interdisciplinary discourse on digital finance as a potential enabler of low-carbon, inclusive, and resilient sustainability transitions.

Xingchen Zhou

Under the dual carbon targets, China's energy companies are speeding up their green transformation, but they usually encounter some common obstacles including lack of capital, weak technical assistance and an incomplete risk control system. The combination of digital technology and financial services provides new approaches to solve these problems. According to the specific characteristics of the transformation of energy enterprises, this research examines the mechanisms of digital finance from two aspects – financing enhancement and technological enhancement. It is found that methods such as digital green loans, bonds and equity financing can efficiently relieve the financial pressure of enterprises, while technologies like big data, blockchain and artificial intelligence can greatly improve the accuracy of emission reduction and the efficiency of energy operation. Furthermore, the enhancing effects have regional differences and threshold characteristics. Thus, countermeasures are put forward from four fields: improving service provision, deepening technological integration, setting up a risk management system and improving policy regulation, which offer guidance for the actual transformation of energy enterprises and the development of relevant policies.

Huriye Gonca Di̇ler, Münevvere YILDIZ, N. Serap VURUR, Letife Özdemir

In today's world, sustainability strategies play a critical role in the transformation of global economies and industries. Green Economic Growth (GEG), which prioritizes environmental factors, is gaining increasing importance. Financial and green innovation are identified as the main driving forces behind GEG. However, research on the effects of these factors in OECD countries remains limited, and existing findings often show inconsistencies regarding the direction and magnitude of these effects. This study aims to comprehensively examine the impact of financial and green innovation on GEG in OECD countries. Using annual data from 15 OECD countries for the period 1996–2021, panel data techniques are applied. Cointegration tests are conducted to determine the presence of long-run relationships among the variables. Subsequently, long-run coefficients are estimated using the panel quantile regression method. The robustness of the findings is tested through OLS and fixed effects models. Additionally, causality tests are employed to explore the directional relationships between the variables. The results indicate that green innovation has a positive long-run effect on GEG, whereas financial innovation exerts a negative impact. Causality tests reveal bidirectional relationships among all variables. Policy recommendations include the promotion of green bonds and sustainable finance instruments, support for green investments through regulations that take environmental risks into account, and the expansion of access to green projects via technologies such as blockchain-based carbon markets. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers in designing more effective strategies to foster sustainable economic growth.

胡雪雅, Zhixiang Yang

This study examines whether green finance promotes green development across Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2005 to 2019. We find a positive association between green finance and green development using panel regressions with city and year fixed effects. This result remains robust after accounting for potential endogeneity and implementing a series of robustness checks. Further heterogeneity analysis shows that this positive effect is stronger in regions characterized by high fiscal capacity and within the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Additionally, green finance drives regional green development by promoting green innovation. Environmental decentralization moderates the relationship, with a stronger positive effect at higher levels of decentralization. This study offers empirical evidence regarding how green finance shapes green development outcomes.

Lianlong Zhang, Xiaopeng Sun, Kaixuan Zhuang

Promoting harmonious interaction between human beings and the ecological environment has become a key issue for achieving sustainable development. Given the cross-regional mobility of resources and production activities, a single region cannot merely rely on its own efforts to balance economic expansion and carbon reduction. In this context, Digital finance can play a key role in improving information connectivity, facilitating green capital allocation, and reducing transaction costs for cross-regional low-carbon collaboration. Against this background, this study introduces and quantifies regional coordinated emission reduction potential by integrating economic ties, geographical proximity, and interregional carbon emissions from a network perspective. By using the panel fixed effect model, the study explored how digital finance shapes this potential and identified the energy-related carbon consumption structure as a transmission mechanism. Findings reveal that the carbon emission spillover effect is most powerful under the combined influence of economic similarity and geographical proximity. Digital finance significantly enhances the potential for regional coordinated emission reduction, and the effect is even stronger in provinces with lower potential for coordinated emission reduction or weaker fiscal decentralization. The level of digitalization and the depth of usage have a greater influence than the breadth of coverage. In addition, the energy-related transmission channels exhibit clear heterogeneity. The coal-related emission channel provides relatively stronger evidence, whereas the gas-related channel shows a countervailing effect.

Elena Rusu Cigu

This paper explores the relationship between fiscal decentralization, green finance, and the digital economy in driving sustainable development, using a balanced cross-country panel dataset spanning 2014–2022, for 29 European countries. Employing dynamic panel estimation techniques, including system generalized method of moments (GMM), the research investigates how fiscal decentralization, green finance, and the digital economy (each of them individually and through interaction mechanisms), dynamically shape sustainable development performance in the presence of endogeneity and temporal persistence. The findings reveal strong inertia in sustainable development, which depends on its previous level. Fiscal decentralization has complex effects: revenue autonomy supports sustainability, whereas expenditure autonomy may undermine it, suggesting differences in how resources are used efficiently at the local versus central levels. Digitalization acts as a catalyst, boosting the effectiveness of environmental taxes and enhancing local spending outcomes. However, if fiscal administrations are not digitally integrated, digitalization may weaken the benefits of decentralized revenues. This study advances the literature by integrating fiscal, financial, and digital views, providing new insights into policy coordination.

Ifran Khan, Huangbao Gui, BiJia Li, Chin Man Chui · 5 authors

The Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) and Baruník and Křehlík (2018) are two complementary models used in this study to examine the transmission of volatility spillover among the five precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium); the top five cryptocurrencies (bitcoin, ethereum, tether, ripple, and binance coin); two green equities (NASDAQ OMX green energy and S&P global clean energy indexes); and two physical and transition climate risk indexes (PRI and TRI). The analysis spans daily data from January 2018 to December 2023, covering multiple crises. One key contribution is offering new insights into asset interactions with transition and physical climate risks based on textual analysis established by Bua et al. (2024). We conclude that volatility spillovers explain 40.3% of market uncertainty. The largest transmitters include ethereum (72.17%), bitcoin (64.65%), silver (52.42%), and XRP (49.18%), while TRI and PRI also play considerable roles. Ethereum, bitcoin, silver, XRP, rhodium, and clean energy emerged as net transmitters, while palladium, TRI, PRI, USDT, gold, BNB, the green economy, and platinum act as net receivers. Short-term spillovers (39.15%) dominate medium-term (18.27%) and long-term (20.88%), implying that short-term shocks pose greater risks to investors. The climate-related risks demonstrate distinct transmission mechanisms, with transition risks (TRI) responding to broad market movements while physical risks (PRI) propagate through more specialized channels. Our study suggests that investors should closely monitor cryptocurrencies and green assets in the short term, approach gold and stablecoins with caution in the medium term, and consider long-term allocations to rhodium and clean energy assets.

Vamika M, Shruthi V, Deepa K, Shrikaa GV

In response to growing environmental, economic, and social demands for more accountable carbon markets, there is increasing recognition of the limitations inherent in traditional carbon credit management systems. These systems often rely on centralized authorities, making them prone to inefficiencies such as high administrative costs, slow verification processes, and limited accessibility for small-scale participants. Moreover, issues like double counting, lack of transparency, and data tampering continue to undermine stakeholder trust and market integrity. A decentralized approach powered by blockchain technology offers a transformative alternative by ensuring transparency, immutability, and automation through the use of smart contracts. On blockchain platforms such as Polygon, carbon credits can be tokenized using the ERC-721 standard, where each credit becomes a unique, verifiable non-fungible token (NFT). These tokens allow precise tracking of credit ownership, issuance, transfers, and retirement (burning), effectively eliminating the need for intermediaries and reducing verification costs. This decentralized model not only enhances operational efficiency but also democratizes participation in the carbon economy, enabling even smaller stakeholders to engage meaningfully. By combining environmental accountability with digital innovation and economic inclusivity, blockchain-based carbon credit platforms represent a significant advancement toward more sustainable, transparent, and equitable global climate and resource governance systems.

Sirine Ben Yaâla, Jamel Eddine Henchiri

This study investigates the impact of sustainability-related uncertainty (SRU)—captured via the Sustainability-related Uncertainty Index in equal-weighted (ESGUI_EQ) and GDP-weighted (ESGUI_GDP) forms—on the volatility of green financial assets, focusing on decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG)-focused Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). Employing a fuzzy logic framework, complemented by 3D surface visualization, Rule Viewer analysis, diagnostic validation, and Granger causality tests, the study uncovers non-linear, asymmetric, and time-varying responses of these assets to sustainability ambiguity. Empirical results reveal a structural divergence: DeFi protocols amplify volatility due to fragmented governance, speculative investor behavior, and sensitivity to policy-driven signals, often exhibiting bidirectional predictive feedback with SRU, whereas ESG ETFs maintain stability through diversification, regulatory oversight, and rigorous ESG screening, primarily absorbing sustainability shocks. These findings extend sustainable finance theory by integrating governance, technology, and policy dimensions, and illustrate the value of fuzzy logic combined with Granger causality in modeling complex, ambiguous markets. From a practical standpoint, the study provides actionable guidance for investors, fund managers, and policymakers, emphasizing the importance of technology-informed governance, standardized ESG disclosures, regulatory sandboxes, and continuous monitoring of SRU.

Antonio Pérez de Juan, Íñigo Martín Melero, Raúl Gómez-Martínez, María Luisa Medrano-García

This study investigates the relationship between public attention to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and cryptocurrency demand, specifically for Bitcoin (BTC) and Cardano (ADA). Given the environmental concerns associated with Proof-of-Work (PoW) and the sustainability benefits of Proof-of-Stake (PoS), we hypothesize that increased SDG attention leads to higher demand for green cryptocurrencies like Cardano and lower demand for non-green cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and supervised machine learning algorithms, we analyze weekly cryptocurrency returns and Google Trends data from 2020 to 2025. The findings suggest that SDG attention has a statistically significant but weak negative impact on Bitcoin returns, while no significant effect is observed for Cardano. Machine learning models fail to predict cryptocurrency demand effectively. These results indicate that sustainability awareness alone is not a primary driver of cryptocurrency investment behavior.

Stephen Bishibura Erick, Bonamax Mbasa, Kulwa Mang’ana

This study conducts a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of scholarly research on green economy and sustainable finance from 2014 to 2024. Drawing upon a dataset of 692 peer-reviewed publications indexed in Scopus and analysed using the Bibliometrix R package, the study maps the field’s intellectual landscape, thematic development, and collaborative networks. The findings reveal a consistent increase in scientific output, with a pronounced surge in publications after 2018. This growth trend aligns with global policy milestones such as the Paris Agreement, the European Union [EU] Sustainable Finance Action Plan, and the proliferation of Environmental, Social, and Governance [ESG] integration and green bonds. China emerges as the most productive country, while institutions such as Jiangsu University, the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, and the Lebanese American University lead in publication volume and collaboration intensity. Keyword co-occurrence and thematic mapping identify dominant themes related to green finance, environmental sustainability, ESG frameworks, and renewable energy, alongside emerging topics like climate risk disclosure and transition finance. Conceptual and co-word network analyses further reveal the interdisciplinary integration of finance, economics, policy, and environmental science. The study also demonstrates the growing decentralization of institutional influence and the rise of both North–South and South–South collaborations. These findings offer valuable insights into the evolving structure of research in sustainable finance and inform future academic inquiry and policy development.

Zongke Bao, Qianqian Fu, Chengfang Wang, Yanshai Yashu

This study examines how fiscal governance structures influence corporate environmental performance by exploiting China’s 2003 tax delegation reform as a quasi-natural experiment. The reform transferred corporate income tax collection authority from locally-governed Local Tax Bureaus (LTBs) to centrally-managed State Tax Bureaus (STBs) based on a firm registration date cutoff of January 1, 2002. Using a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) with micro-level panel data from Chinese manufacturing firms (2004-2008), we identify the causal impact of tax administration assignment on firm-level energy efficiency, measured as output per unit of energy consumed. Our findings reveal that firms under LTB administration exhibit 8-12% higher energy efficiency compared to comparable firms under STB administration. This effect persists across multiple robustness checks, including alternative bandwidth specifications, placebo tests using unaffected firms, and alternative energy efficiency measures. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that the energy efficiency gains stem from three primary channels: (1) relaxed financial constraints enabling greater investment capacity, (2) transition toward cleaner energy sources with reduced coal dependency, and (3) increased adoption of energy-saving technologies and green innovation. These effects are particularly pronounced among financially constrained firms, non-exporters, and firms in regions with higher fiscal capacity or stronger environmental pressure. These results contribute to three strands of literature. First, they provide novel evidence that fiscal administrative structures—traditionally viewed as purely revenue instruments—can have substantial unintended environmental consequences. Second, they demonstrate how local fiscal flexibility may create conditions conducive to green technological upgrading by alleviating financial frictions. Third, they extend the Porter Hypothesis to the institutional level, showing that supportive governance arrangements can simultaneously enhance economic efficiency and environmental sustainability. The findings suggest that integrating environmental performance metrics into local tax administration evaluation frameworks could align fiscal incentives with sustainability objectives, offering a promising pathway for emerging economies to achieve coordinated economic and environmental goals. • LTB oversight improves firm energy efficiency by 8–12% over STB control. • Lenient tax enforcement eases financing constraints for cleaner energy adoption. • Environmental benefits are stronger in fiscally surplus or high-pressure cities. • Financing-constrained and non-exporting firms benefit most from LTB regulation. • Study links decentralized tax control to unexpected environmental improvements.

Khalid Ahmed, Abdul Khalique, Bareerah Khan

Despite Pakistan's long-enduring chronic energy crisis, a recent surge in solar generation supplied nearly 25 % of the national electricity grid in the first quarter of 2025, broadening access and easing cost pressures. Conversely, IMF conditionality under IMF financing programs, such as tariff rebasing and a 10 % sales tax on solar imports, risk undermining these distributive gains. This study examines the interaction between solar adoption, IMF credit, and household electricity prices in shaping energy justice, using annual data from 2007 to 2024. We capture direct, mediated, and dynamic effects using time-series analysis and causal mediation models, respectively. Results show that a 1 % increase in solar generation reduces injustice by 0.142 points ( p < 0.01), with benefits most substantial in rural areas. Mediation analysis demonstrates that IMF credit alleviates injustice only when channeled through solar adoption ( β = 0.251 → SE; Sobel z = −2.47), while tariff hikes directly worsen inequality ( β = −0.399, p < 0.05) but partially induce adoption. VAR evidence reveals that price shocks immediately intensify injustice, whereas solar shocks reduce disparities gradually. Results conclude that solar energy holds great promise, but cannot single-handedly drive a just transition. Achieving equitable outcomes requires addressing policy barriers by removing regressive fiscal measures, safeguarding net-metering, dedicating IMF resources to decentralized solar projects in marginalized communities, and broadening targeted subsidies for low-income populations. A failure to implement such measures could render Pakistan's solar expansion exclusive, thereby widening inequality. • Solar deployment substantially reduces distributive energy injustice in Pakistan, with a 1 % rise in solar output lowering injustice by 0.142 points. • IMF credit enhances distributive energy justice only when directed toward solar investment. • Household electricity prices drive energy injustice: tariff hikes intensify inequality but spur limited, inequitable solar adoption. • Price shocks incur immediate and enduring distributive costs, whereas the equity benefits of solar adoption accrue gradually. • Achieving an equitable transition requires embedding distributive justice in fiscal and financing frameworks.

Jiating Wang, Yinan Peng

The increasing need for sustainable practices has encouraged listed companies to participate in carbon trading markets. Traditional centralized systems for managing carbon trading data often face challenges such as limited transparency, poor traceability, and security risks, leading to inefficiencies and compliance issues. This research proposes a blockchain-based framework with smart contracts to provide a secure, decentralized mechanism for recording and verifying carbon trading data. The system ensures tamper-proof logs of emission allowances, trading transactions, and verification events, enabling real-time access for regulatory authorities. Data preprocessing uses Z-score normalization to standardize inputs, while Kernel Principal Component Analysis (KPCA) reduces dimensionality and extracts relevant features. To improve decision-making and cost-efficiency, a Dynamic Cuckoo Search-mutated Locust Swarm Optimization (DCSLSO) algorithm is embedded within the smart contracts to optimize carbon credit allocation and trading strategies. The framework is evaluated through simulations under varying energy demands, carbon prices, and multi-fuel scenarios, using synthetic datasets from energy-intensive industries. The DCSLSO model is implemented using Python and TensorFlow. This research demonstrates that blockchain technology, combined with intelligent smart contracts, can modernize carbon trading for listed companies, fostering transparency, accountability, and long-term economic sustainability in emissions management. This research highlights the potential of combining blockchain technology with intelligent optimization to modernize carbon markets, promoting transparency, accountability, and sustainable economic growth in emissions management.

Kingsley Imandojemu, Aliyu Akorede Rufai, Felix Orole, Romanus Osabohien

ABSTRACT Balancing energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability has become increasingly challenging as economies pursue low‐carbon growth amid climate risk and persistent disparities in access to modern energy. Although entrepreneurship is widely recognized as a driver of innovation, its role in addressing the energy trilemma remains contested. This study examines whether, and under what conditions, entrepreneurship contributes to resolving the energy trilemma, using panel data for 64 countries from 2011 to 2022. Drawing on the World Energy Council's trilemma indices, World Bank entrepreneurship and macroeconomic indicators, and OECD‐DAC climate finance data, the analysis employs random‐effects models to capture both within‐ and between‐country variation. The results show that entrepreneurial activity is robustly associated with improved energy security and energy equity, alongside more modest gains in environmental sustainability. Innovation capacity strengthens these relationships, while foreign direct investment and climate finance exhibit uneven effects, tending to support system‐level and environmental outcomes more than inclusive access. Regulatory quality emerges as a critical enabling condition that significantly amplifies the positive impact of entrepreneurship across the energy trilemma. Overall, the findings provide cross‐country evidence that entrepreneurship functions as both an innovation conduit and a decentralizing force in energy transitions, underscoring the importance of predictable regulation and better‐targeted climate finance for access‐oriented clean energy solutions.

Darlington Chizema, Ramos E. Mabugu, Christelle Meniago

This study examines the effect of renewable energy consumption on energy poverty across 43 Sub-Saharan African countries from 2002 to 2021. Using a dynamic panel data approach and a two-step System GMM estimator, it addresses endogeneity concerns in energy poverty analysis. Results show energy poverty is persistent, reflecting deep institutional and infrastructural challenges. While renewable energy consumption is positively associated with energy poverty, the modest impact suggests current investments are concentrated in urban or grid-connected areas, with limited benefits for rural populations. This highlights the need for inclusive, decentralized energy strategies. Human capital emerges as a key factor in alleviating energy poverty, emphasizing the importance of integrating energy access with education and health initiatives. Conversely, GDP per capita, institutional quality, and population density show no significant effects, challenging assumptions that economic growth alone can resolve energy deprivation. The lack of a declining trend in energy poverty underscores the urgency for targeted, long-term interventions. The study advocates pro-poor energy policies, innovative financing, and multi-sectoral approaches linking energy access to broader development goals to advance Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7). Future research should explore subnational disparities and the varied impacts of renewable technologies to inform context-specific solutions.

Sendy Sendy, Kevin Deniswara

Developments and changes in technology play a significant role in addressing climate change, one of which is decentralized finance, which is currently expanding, and it is still unclear whether it has a dynamic relationship with climate change. This study employs the TVP-VAR Connectedness model with the aim of analyzing the dynamic relationship between the decentralized finance operations and CO2 emissions, the impact of shocks from DeFi operations (Total Value Locked, Volume, Returns, Fees, and Revenues) dynamically increasing CO2 emissions, as well as to assess the role of DeFi returns in strengthening the transmissions of DeFi activity to CO2 emissions. The results show that DeFi operations have a dynamic relationship with CO2 emissions at a moderate level through shocks transmitted by DeFi operational indicators. It was also found that TVL acts more as a net receiver than a net transmitter, unlike Volume, Fees and Revenues. Returns do not significantly transmit shocks to CO2 emissions and are more exogenous in nature, while both TVL and Returns are predominantly influenced by internal idiosyncratic shocks. These findings emphasize the importance of integrating Green FinTech policies to ensure sustainable DeFi growth. The findings also provide important implications for regulators, industry practitioners and academics in their efforts to balance the advancement of DeFi with environmental sustainability.

Yang Hu, Chunlin Lang, Les Oxley, Yang (Greg) Hou

This paper investigates the Granger causality relationship in Bitcoin mining from environmental, sustainable, and miner’s financial perspectives for the period of February 2017 to January 2025. Using a time-varying Granger causality approach of Shi et al. (2018,2020), we explore how the hashrate, a measure of computational power in the Bitcoin mining process, affects energy consumption, electronic waste, and miners’ revenues. Our findings reveal that an increase in hashrate leads to a significant rise in energy use and e-waste and affects miners’ revenues. In addition, we show that mining revenue Granger causes the hashrate, suggesting economic incentives drive the network security through the hashrate. These results offer new insights for investors, policymakers, and environmental economists. • A time-varying Granger causality approach is adopted. • Higher computational power directly increases electricity demand and electronic waste. • The intensity of competition, as measured by hashrate, has a significant impact on mining profitability. • Higher mining revenues incentivise the use of greater hash power.

Hanzun Li, Yige Du, Shaohua Kong

Amid intensifying challenges of global climate change, China—as the world’s largest carbon emitter and a major manufacturing hub—occupies a pivotal position in the global industrial green transformation. Drawing on environmental federalism theory and China’s decentralized governance model, this study develops a framework of “green finance–local government competition–industrial green transformation.” Using panel data from 283 cities in China, we employ spatial econometrics and mediation effect models to test the dual mechanisms by which green finance promotes industrial green transformation. The findings indicate that (1) green finance promotes industrial green transformation; (2) green finance advances industrial green transformation by dismantling China’s traditional local government competition–based development model and removing the institutional suppression arising from “race-to-the-bottom competition”; (3) the effect of green finance exhibits long-run characteristics and a “benchmark–imitation” pattern; (4) baseline environmental conditions strengthen the influence of green finance on industrial green transformation; (5) incorporating ecological civilization development into officials’ performance evaluations can effectively reshape policy incentives and amplify the positive role of green finance. Thus, we propose differentiated green finance policies, the construction of a governance mechanism that integrates fiscal–financial–ecological compensation, and the optimization of ecological civilization assessment indicators to curb campaign-style governance.

Tarek Sadraoui, Sameh Zarai, Mohamed Ali Azouzi

This study examines the interrelation among gold, oil, and cryptocurrency markets and their implications for economic growth in the context of geopolitical turmoil. Employing panel data from 2000 to 2023 of exporter, importer, and mixed economies, we employ Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) and Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) to ascertain asymmetric as well as dynamic relations. Evidence shows that oil and gold price shocks exert significant effects on growth with geopolitical risk increasing volatility, while cryptocurrencies are heterogeneously resilient in panels. The results provide fresh evidence of cross-asset linkages, risk transmission mechanisms, and provide policy implications for policymakers and investors under volatile geopolitical environments.

Abdulkarim K. Alhowaish

Saudi Arabia’s rapid urbanization driven by Vision 2030 demands sustainable municipal finance systems. Using a mixed-methods analysis, this study analyzes 360 expert perspectives and identifies the key challenges of fiscal centralization (β = –0.14), governance deficits (20.2% variance), and overreliance on centralized funding (31.8% variance). However, decentralization (β = 0.31), policy alignment with Vision 2030, and green finance tools emerge as transformative pathways. Regression and correlation analyses reveal that municipal autonomy and legal frameworks are crucial in promoting sustainability integration. This study advocates for fiscal decentralization, Sharia-compliant green bonds, and institutional reforms and offers useful insights for policymakers.

Luqman Hakim Abdul Majid, Yudi Fernando, Ming K. Lim, Ming‐Lang Tseng

Achieving carbon neutrality in supply chains is a complex challenge, given the urgency of climate change mitigation. This paper explores how non-fungible tokens, carbon transparency, and blockchain carbon credits can support reaching carbon neutrality. We surveyed 140 Malaysian semiconductor firms involved in carbon-neutrality initiatives and conducted necessary condition analysis using the bottleneck technique. Our results show that non-fungible tokens enhance carbon transparency by providing traceable, verifiable carbon data. This transparency positively influences the issuance of blockchain carbon credits and carbon neutrality, though its effect is limited. Carbon transparency serves as a mediator between non-fungible tokens and carbon neutrality, underscoring its role in leveraging digital tools for effective carbon management. However, regulatory compliance and scalability challenges hinder both carbon transparency and digital transformation. This paper provides a foundation for integrating non-fungible tokens and blockchain technology into supply chains, offering policymakers pursuing transparent decarbonisation strategies valuable insights.

Aamir Aijaz Syed, Alka Singh

Advanced blockchain technologies and growing environmental and economic uncertainties have Motivated us to investigate the impact of climate policy uncertainty (CPU) and global economic policy uncertainty (GEPU) on five green cryptocurrencies—ADA, EOS, IOTA, XLM, XTZ—selected based on energy efficiency and mining processes. We examined the short- and long-run impacts of alternative assets on these cryptocurrencies using a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model. In the long run, these cryptocurrencies are negatively affected by CPU and GEPU, questioning their safe-haven potential. In the short run, ADA, EOS, and XLM share a positive asymmetric relationship with CPU, whereas all cryptocurrencies have a negative asymmetric relationship with GEPU. Therefore, they can be considered a safe haven. In the short and long term, green bonds exert a positive impact, whereas interest rates, the S&amp;P 500, and the gold index negatively impact these cryptocurrencies. In the short run, Bitcoin shows a negative relationship with EOS, IOTA, and XTZ and a positive relationship with ADA and XLM. Over the long term, Bitcoin exhibits a positive correlation with all cryptocurrencies. USD exhibits a positive relationship in the short run and a negative relationship in the long run with all cryptocurrencies. The findings offer practical implications for portfolio construction and investors dealing in the green cryptocurrency market.

Saba Aslam, Nadia Nazeer, Sania Ahmad

This study adds a new dimension to the body of research by analyzing the impact of fiscal decentralization (FD) on ecological footprints (EF) in Pakistan. In Pakistan, the author examined how financing dependency (FD) affects economic efficiency (EE) from 1990 to 2022, considering time series data with the variables of renewable energy consumption (REC), nonrenewable energy consumption (NREC), GDP and trade openness (TOP). Based on the obtained data, the Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is chosen. To promote environmental sustainability, the regression analysis reveals that NREC, GDP, and TOP improve EF in Pakistan, while FD and REC reduce EF. This study suggests that Pakistan should optimize the integration of strategies that improve ecological quality by providing the lower level of government with access to environmentally aware technological advancements. These findings could be considered as a policy recommendation.