Special Issue — Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation
Deadline of submission 31 July 2024 (closed).
About this Special Issue
This special issue will monitor the—overt and covert—interlinkages of growth and environmental degradation in which nature-driven risks are revealed on socioeconomic development and vice versa. We invite state-of-the-art papers on all aspects related to socioeconomic growth and environmental degradation, especially solutions on how to alleviate pressures on ecosystems and to promote biodiversity protection.

Moreover, we encourage scientists to submit their concerns on issues like circular economy, energy trends, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation or adaptation, sustainable development, and ESG. Ultimately, the core aspects of SDGs are specially intertwined with the scope of the current special issue.

The special issue will delve into the extent to which economic mechanisms hamper environmental stability through negative externalities and their spillover effects. Furthermore, central scope would be the investigation of—growth and degrowth—policies based on study cases: either through regional initiatives, or national-driven frameworks and international pathways.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Economic Growth and Environment: Environmental Problems (Climate Change, Ozone Depletion, Acid Rain, Biodiversity, Desertification, Liquid and solid waste—Marine Pollution)
  • Economic Environmental Assessment
  • Natural Resources and Energy Management
  • Green Economy, Sustainability, Innovation
  • Business and Sustainable Development
  • Technology, Industry and the Environment
  • Sustainable Transport, Sustainable Tourism
  • Estimation and management of (environmental) risk, environmental impact assessment
  • Urban and Regional Development
  • Environmental sociology and psychology 

References
Special Issue Editor
George E. Halkos
George E. Halkos
Laboratory of Operations Research, Department of Economics, University of Thessaly, Volos 38333, Greece
Research Keywords: applied statistics and econometrics; simulations of economic modeling natural resource and environmental economics; applied micro-economics with emphasis in welfare economics; air pollution; game theory; mathematical models (non-linear programming)
Editorial Board Member of Highlights of Sustainability
Submission Information
All the manuscripts submitted to this Special Issue must be within both the scope of this Special Issue and the journal.
Manuscripts should be submitted online (Click here to submit, registration and login required). All the manuscripts will undergo a rigorous single-blind peer-review process.
Please prepare your manuscript following the Instructions for Authors, and make sure it is submitted in grammatically correct English.
Please refer to the Editorial Process and Article Processing Charge for more information about manuscript process and publishing fees.
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Published Articles (4)
Review    25 March 2025
Phoenix Eskridge-Aldama, Aden Stern, Anna Vaughn and Diana Stuart
As global temperatures continue to rise, those in favor of rapid climate mitigation face critical questions regarding maintaining current levels of economic growth. On a global scale, there remains a clear positive correlation between economic growth As global temperatures continue to rise, those in favor of rapid climate mitigation face critical questions regarding maintaining current levels of economic growth. On a global scale, there remains a clear positive correlation between economic growth and carbon emissions, leading many climate scientists to call for a move away from a growth-focused economy. In this article, we draw from recent research to compare possible outcomes in terms of social well-being and climate mitigation for green growth and degrowth pathways. Green growth aims to maintain economic growth while reducing carbon emissions. Degrowth calls for a purposeful contraction of economic growth in wealthy countries. Drawing from recent studies, we compile evidence to compare these pathways and assess how each of these key strategies is evaluated and framed in the literature. We find that research indicates clear differences between these pathways in terms of mitigation potential and risks to human welfare, and we call for future research on specific topics related to a degrowth transition. Additionally, we identify issues of feasibility as primary concerns within both paradigms. or Access Full Article
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 4 (2025), Issue 2, pp. 69–94
121 Views31 Downloads
Article    22 February 2025
Assitan Diaby, Mehdi Seraj and Huseyin Ozdeser
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 4 (2025), Issue 1, pp. 56–68
274 Views71 Downloads
Article    1 February 2025
Bogusław Ślusarczyk, Małgorzata A. Kozłowska and Zuzanna A. Kozłowska
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 4 (2025), Issue 1, pp. 16–37
404 Views95 Downloads
Article    1 November 2024
Francesco Scalamonti
Highlights of Sustainability
Volume 3 (2024), Issue 4, pp. 354–373
955 Views259 Downloads1 Citations
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Highlights of Sustainability Editorial Office
Highlights of Science
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08014 Barcelona, Spain
Email: sustainability@hos.pub
Tel. +34 93 138 23 89
Cathy Wang Managing Editor
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Highlights Sustain., ISSN 2696-628X. Published quarterly by Highlights of Science.
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