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The prevailing global emission pollution dilemma necessitates a sustainable alternative to gasoline-powered automobiles, with electric vehicles serving as a viable option. The shift from petrol to electric cars (EVs) poses a challenge for expanding markets like Malaysia. The Malaysian Automobile Association reported that electric vehicle sales in Malaysia for 2023 totaled 13,257 units. This study examines studies on determinants that affect consumers’ intention to acquire electric vehicles. Subsequently, analyzed information regarding the determinants affecting Malaysian customers’ propensity to acquire electric vehicles in order to assess prevailing trends. Thirty-six articles published between 2016 and 2023 were extracted from the Scopus databases. The investigation was conducted via bibliometric analysis utilizing VOSviewer software. The subsequent conventional bibliometric indicators employed were: publication year, source type, language, subject area, keyword analysis, geographical distribution, and author citation analysis. Keyword analysis and publication patterns suggest that the determinants affecting consumers’ propensity to acquire electric vehicles represent a viable subject for future research.

The 19 papers included in this special issue examined the factors influencing the adoption of climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices among smallholder farmers and estimated the impacts of CSA adoption on farm production, income, and well-being. Key findings from this special issue include: (1) the variables, including age, gender, education, risk perception and preferences, access to credit, farm size, production conditions, off-farm income, and labour allocation, have a mixed (either positive or negative) influence on the adoption of CSA practices; (2) the variables, including labour endowment, land tenure security, access to extension services, agricultural training, membership in farmers’ organizations, support from non-governmental organizations, climate conditions, and access to information consistently have a positive impact on CSA adoption; (3) diverse forms of capital (physical, social, human, financial, natural, and institutional), social responsibility awareness, and digital advisory services can effectively promote CSA adoption; (4) the establishment of climate-smart villages and civil-society organizations enhances CSA adoption by improving their access to credit; (5) CSA adoption contributes to improved farm resilience to climate change and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions; (6) CSA adoption leads to higher crop yields, increased farm income, and greater economic diversification; (7) integrating CSA technologies into traditional agricultural practices not only boosts economic viability but also contributes to environmental sustainability and health benefits; and (8) there is a critical need for international collaboration in transferring technology for CSA. Overall, the findings of this special issue highlight that through targeted interventions and collaborative efforts, CSA can play a pivotal role in achieving food security, poverty alleviation, and climate resilience in farming communities worldwide and contribute to the achievements of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Adopting climate-smart agricultural (CSA) practices is a long-term solution for enhancing agricultural sustainability and food security under the changing climate. However, the penetration rate of CSA practices remains low worldwide. Understanding the key factors driving the adoption of CSA practices is key to increasing its penetration. This study provides a systematic review of the literature comprising 190 studies published between 2013 and 2023. Based on the reviewed literature, we provide comprehensive definitions of CSA practices from broad and narrow perspectives. We also discuss the factors influencing farmers’ decisions to adopt CSA practices from four categories: socio-demographic factors, institutional factors, resource endowment factors, and socio-economic factors. Our literature review reveals that most of the factors (e.g., age, gender, education, risk perception and preference, access to credit, farm size, production conditions, off-farm income, and labor allocation) discussed in the literature have a dual (either positive or negative) impact on CSA practice adoption. The variables such as labor endowment, land tenure security, access to extension services, access to agricultural training, membership in farmers’ organizations, non-governmental organization (NGO) support, climate conditions, and access to information consistently and positively impact CSA practice adoption. These findings provide solid evidence for designing appropriate policy instruments that help accelerate CSA diffusion and transmission. We also find gaps in CSA practice measurements, influencing factor identification, and econometric methods used for empirical analysis, which should be explored by future research.

In recent years, climate change, environmental, social and governance factors, and their multidimensional impacts have become dominant topics of discussion. This study investigates the determinants of corporate climate risk management based on the theories of legitimacy, agency, and stakeholder. We utilize a diversified sample of multinational companies from Brazil, France, and the USA listed on stock exchanges, focusing on exposure, disclosure, and the implementation of climate projects. We conducted rigorous statistical analyses, including both classical and advanced robust models. Our methodology involved the use of robust covariance matrix estimation, robust Newey‒West estimation, and robust estimation by Driscoll and Kraay. Preliminary results reveal that a significant proportion of companies in these countries have not disclosed climate risks with business impacts, raising questions about awareness and recognition of these risks. Our analysis also highlights the predominant concern about regulatory risks, suggesting the need for companies to navigate a complex regulatory landscape. Furthermore, we identified the influence of factors such as size, industry profile, climate regulation, creditor power, auditor power, and profitability on climate risk management. Evidence suggests that companies of all sizes and backgrounds should recognize the importance of climate risk management and engage all stakeholders, including creditors and auditors, who play a crucial role in perceiving climate risk exposure. This involves the proactive assessment of risks associated with climate change and the implementation of strategies to mitigate them. This study provides valuable insights for business decisions aligned with sustainability and the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Purpose of review This review aims to identify the key factors, methods, and spatial units used in the development and validation of the heat vulnerability index (HVI) and discuss the underlying limitations of the data and methods by evaluating the performance of the HVI. Recent findings Thirteen studies characterizing the factors of the HVI development and relating the index with validation data were identified. Five types of factors (i.e., hazard exposure, demographic characteristics, socioeconomic conditions, built environment, and underlying health) of the HVI development were identified, and the top five were social cohesion, race, and/or ethnicity, landscape, age, and economic status. The principal component analysis/factor analysis (PCA/FA) was often used in index development, and four types of spatial units (i.e., census tracts, administrative area, postal code, grid) were used for establishing the relationship between factors and the HVI. Moreover, although most studies showed that a higher HVI was often associated with the increase in health risk, the strength of the relationship was weak. Summary This review provides a retrospect of the major factors, methods, and spatial units used in development and validation of the HVI and helps to define the framework for future studies. In the future, more information on the hazard exposure, underlying health, governance, and protection awareness should be considered in the HVI development, and the duration and location of validation data should be strengthened to verify the reliability of HVI.

Invasive alien plants (IAPs) have serious environmental and economic impacts, especially in vulnerable areas of China. However, IAP richness distribution patterns, their driving factors, and the dynamic shifts in potential distribution areas remain elusive. We assessed IAP richness distribution patterns and drivers using 402 IAPs recorded in China at 88 926 occurrence points, and then predicted their potential distribution areas. The results show that IAP hotspots were mainly located in southeastern China, especially coastal areas of the South and East and large inland cities. Population density, gross domestic product (GDP), and four climate variables associated with precipitation and temperature jointly influenced the richness distribution pattern of all IAPs. Specifically, population density and GDP impacted the richness distribution pattern of narrow‐range IAPs, and population density, GDP, distance to the nearest national highway, and five climate variables affected the richness distribution pattern of widespread IAPs. Only GDP contributed significantly to the richness distribution pattern of the top 5% hotspot grid cells, whereas population density, GDP, and precipitation in the driest month (BIO14) significantly influenced the richness distribution patterns of hotspots for both the top 10% and top 20%. Prediction analysis demonstrated that southeastern China would have particularly high invasion risk under both current and future climate scenarios. Regions with increases in predicted species richness are more common (44.83–64.97%) than those with decreases, except under the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 4.5 scenario. Climate change will contribute greatly to the expansion of potential IAP distribution areas under both optimistic (RCP 2.5) and pessimistic scenarios (RCP 8.5). The results of this study provide insights into the priority management of IAPs by developing promising strategies for the control and prevention of IAP invasion.

As the “Third Pole”, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is threatened by environmental changes. Ecosystem vulnerability refers to the sensitivity and resilience of ecosystems to external disturbances. However, there is a lack of relevant studies on the driving factors of ecosystem vulnerability. Therefore, based on spatial principal components analysis and geographic detectors methods, this paper evaluates the ecosystem vulnerability and its driving factors on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from the years 2005 to 2015. The results were as follows: (1) The ecosystem vulnerability index (EVI) of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is mainly heavy and extreme, showing a gradually increasing trend from southeast to northwest. (2) The spatial heterogeneity of the EVI is significant in the southeast and northwest, but not in the southwest and central parts. (3) Analysis of influencing factors shows that environmental factors have more significant effects on EVI than socioeconomic variables, facilitating the proposal of adequate policy implications. More efforts should be devoted to ecological protection and restoration to prevent grassland degradation and desertification in the high-EVI areas in northwest. The government is also urged to improve the ecological compensation mechanisms and balance ecological protection and residents’ development needs in the southeast.

Carbonate rock chemical weathering carbon sinks reduce the rate of increase of the atmospheric CO 2 concentration and global warming. However, uncertainty still exists in the estimation results of carbonate rock chemical weathering carbon sink fluxes (CCSF), and the contributions of climate change and ecological restoration to the CCSF are not clear. To this end, we compiled published site data on ion concentrations in different watersheds in China and used a classical thermodynamic dissolution model to reassess the potential and spatial and temporal patterns of the CCSF in China from 1991 to 2020. We quantified the contributions of temperature (MAT), precipitation (MAP), evapotranspiration (ET), soil water (SM), and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) to the CCSF. The results revealed that (1) China’s CCSF was 22.76 t CO 2 km −2 yr −1 , which was higher than the global average (15.771CO 2 km −2 yr −1 ). The total carbonate rock chemical weathering carbon sink (CCS) was 4772.67×10 4 t CO 2 , contributing 14.91% of the global CCS through a carbonate rock area of 252.98×10 4 km −2 . (2) China’s CCSF decreased gradually from southeast to northwest, with values of 33.14, 12.93, and 7.27 t CO 2 km −2 yr −1 in the southern karst, Qinghai-Tibetan karst, and northern karst regions, respectively. (3) The overall CCSF in China exhibited an increasing trend from 1991 to 2020, with a rate of increase of 0.16 t CO 2 km −2 yr −1 . (4) The contributions of the MAP, MAT, ET, SM, and NDVI to the CCSF were 63.3%, 3.02%, 27.5%, 3.1%, and 3.05%, respectively. Among them, the increase in precipitation was the main contributor to the increase in the CCSF in China over the last 30 years, while the enhancement of ET offset part of the positive contribution of the increase in precipitation to the CCSF. In conclusion, the results of this study provide a systematic quantification of the magnitude, the patterns, and the influencing factors of CCS over a long time series in China. The results are of great significance and provide a reference for the diagnosis and gap analysis of the national and global carbon neutrality capacities.

To achieve carbon peak targets, realize carbon neutrality vision, and tackle global climate change, China must improve the carbon emission performance at the city level. Based on the carbon emission performance of 191 prefecture-level cities in China from 1997 to 2017, this paper analyses the evolution characteristics of urban carbon emission performance from three aspects: the overall spatial and temporal evolution, the differences according to both region and city size, and the differences among clusters categorized by carbon emission performance at the city level. This paper also reveals the impact of the social and economic transition on China’s carbon emission performance. The results show that: (1) The overall level of carbon emission performance of Chinese cities is low, and there is a downward trend during the study period. The differences in carbon emission performance among cities are convergent, but there is a wide gap between high and low values. (2) The carbon emission performance of cities in eastern coastal areas is higher than that in non-coastal areas cities. Large urban agglomerations and economically developed regions, such as provincial capitals, are the agglomeration areas of high urban carbon emission performance values. (3) The carbon emission performance level of cities with similar sizes will converge. At the same time, such changes will enhance the differences among carbon emission performances at the city level within the same region. (4) Cities that belong to high urban carbon emission performance clusters are mainly distributed in the eastern region. Such cities are classified into large cities, supercities, and megacities. Compared with low urban carbon emission performance clusters, cities in high urban carbon emission performance clusters show a higher proportion in the medium-high level and high level of carbon emission performance. Moreover, cities in high urban carbon emission performance clusters are more likely to improve theirurban carbon emission performance. (5) The economic agglomeration effect, industrial structure adjustment and carbon intensity reduction have a significant impact on improving urban carbon emission performance. Population agglomeration has an incremental effect, and the anticipated benefits of environmental regulation have yet to be fully realized. The impacts of different clusters and different regions are variable. Finally, this paper advances policy enlightenment according to its research findings.

Vegetation serves as a crucial indicator of ecological environment and plays a vital role in preserving ecosystem stability. However, as urbanization escalates rapidly, natural vegetation landscapes are undergoing continuous transformation. Paradoxically, vegetation is pivotal in mitigating the ecological and environmental challenges posed by urban sprawl. The middle and lower Yangtze River Basin (MLYRB) in China, particularly its economically thriving lower reaches, has witnessed a surge in urbanization. Consequently, this study explored the spatiotemporal variations of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the MLYRB, with an emphasis on elucidating the impact of climate change and urbanization on vegetation dynamics. The results indicate that a significant increasing trend in NDVI across the MLYRB from 2000 to 2020, a pattern that is expected to persist. An improvement in vegetation was observed in 94.12% of the prefecture-level cities in the study area, predominantly in the western and southern regions. Temperature and wind speed stand out as dominant contributors to this improvement. Nevertheless, significant vegetation degradation was detected in some highly urbanized cities in the central and eastern parts of the study area, mainly attributed to the negative effects of escalating urbanization. Interestingly, a positive correlation between NDVI and the urbanization rate was observed, which may be largely related to proactive ecological preservation policies. Additionally, global climatic oscillations were identified as a key force driving periodic NDVI variations. These findings hold significant importance in promoting harmonious urbanization and ecological preservation, thereby providing invaluable insights for future urban ecological planning efforts.