The role of technology innovation and people's connectivity in testing environmental Kuznets curve and pollution heaven hypotheses across the Belt and Road host countries: new evidence from Method of Moments Quantile Regression

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is closely linked to the ecological sustainability of the infrastructure ventures that intrinsically include the aspects of climate change and pollution. Though there exists literature on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and pollution haven hypothesis (PHH), very few explore the scope in the light of Belt and Road host countries (B&RCs). Therefore, the study examines the income-induced EKC and Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI)-based PHH in the multivariate framework of people's connectivity and technology innovation in B&RCs from 2003 to 2018. The outcome of the study reveals that the observed relationship is quantile-dependent, which may disclose misleading results in previous studies using traditional methodologies that address the averages. Utilizing the novel "Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR)" of Machado and Silva (J Econom 213:145-173, 2019), the findings confirm an inverted U-shape association between economic growth and CO₂ emissions only at lower to medium emission countries, thus validating the EKC hypothesis. The Chinese outward FDI flows increase carbon emissions at medium to high emission countries, thereby confirming PHH. The findings also indicate that people's connectivity contributes to increasing emissions while innovation mitigates carbon emissions at lower to medium polluted countries. Moreover, the outcomes of Granger causality confirm one-way causality between economic growth and CO₂ emissions, between FDI and CO₂ emissions, between people's connectivity and CO₂ emissions, and between innovation and CO₂ emissions. The results offer valuable insight for legislators to counteract CO₂ emissions in B&RCs through innovation-led energy conservation in infrastructure projects while adopting green and sustainable financing mechanisms to materialize mega construction projects under the BRI.

Risks of Biological Invasion on the Belt and Road

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an unprecedented global development program that involves nearly half of the world's countries [1]. It not only will have economic and political influences, but also may generate multiple environmental challenges and is a focus of considerable academic and public concerns [2-6]. The Chinese government expects BRI to be a sustainable development, paying equal attention to economic development and environmental conservation [7]. However, BRI's high expenditure on infrastructure construction, by accelerating trade and transportation, is likely to promote alien species invasions [5], one of the primary anthropogenic threats to global biodiversity [8]. BRI countries may have different susceptibilities to invasive species due to different financial and response capacities [9]. Moreover, these countries overlap 27 of 35 recognized global biodiversity hotspots [10]. Identifying those areas with high-invasion risks, and species with high invasive potentials within BRI countries, is therefore of vital importance for the sustainable implementation of the BRI, and the development of early, economical, and effective biosecurity strategies [11]. In response, we present here a comprehensive study to evaluate invasion risks by alien vertebrates within BRI. We identified a total of 14 invasion hotspots, the majority of which fall along the six proposed BRI economic corridors, with the proportion of grid cells in invasion hotspots 1.6 times higher than other regions. Based on our results, we recommend the initiation of a project targeting early prevention, strict surveillance, rapid response, and effective control of alien species in BRI countries to ensure that this development is sustainable.

Combating echinococcosis in China: strengthening the research and development

Echinococcosis is a neglected zoonotic disease, causing great morbidity and mortality due to the wide distribution of its endemic areas. China holds a high percentage in the global burden of both cystic and alveolar echinococcosis. A national survey conducted between 2012 and 2016 showed that an estimated 50 million people are at risk of contracting the disease in western China, of whom about 0.17 million are cases with echinococcosis.

Despite this, research and development on echinococcosis in China is greatly inadequate compared to that in other countries. In this paper, we argue that there is a need for more research and work to be conducted in China on echinococcosis, including researching techniques in regards to diagnosis, treatment, and vaccination, and developing products through technical transformation and piloting strategies to control and even elimination.

However, great opportunities exist for China to strengthen the research and development on this disease through initiatives such as Health China 2030, the Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Africa cooperation, as well as through further cooperation between China and the World Health Organization. All of these can bring us closer to controlling echinococcosis in China as well as in other countries. One element of crucial importance will be the training and development of professionals, which can be strengthened through international cooperation.

A societal transition of MSW management in Xiamen (China) toward a circular economy through integrated waste recycling and technological digitization

Recently Xiamen (China) has encountered various challenges of municipal solid waste management (MSWM) such as lack of a complete garbage sorting and recycling system, the absence of waste segregation between organic and dry waste at source, and a shortage of complete and clear information about the MSW generated. This article critically analyzes the existing bottlenecks in its waste management system and discusses the way forward for the city to enhance its MSWM by drawing lessons from Hong Kong's effectiveness in dealing with the same problems over the past decades. Solutions to the MSWM problem are not only limited to technological options, but also integrate environmental, legal, and institutional perspectives. The solutions include (1) enhancing source separation and improving recycling system; (2) improving the legislation system of the MSWM; (3) improvement of terminal disposal facilities in the city; (4) incorporating digitization into MSWM; and (5) establishing standards and definitions for recycled products and/or recyclable materials. We also evaluate and compare different aspects of MSWM in Xiamen and Hong Kong SAR (special administrative region) under the framework of 'One Country, Two Systems' concerning environmental policies, generation, composition, characteristics, treatment, and disposal of their MSW. The nexus of society, economics of the MSW, and the environment in the sustainability sphere are established by promoting local recycling industries and the standardization of recycled products and/or recyclable materials. The roles of digitization technologies in the 4^th Industrial Revolution for waste reduction in the framework of circular economy (CE) are also elaborated. This technological solution may improve the city's MSWM in terms of public participation in MSW separation through reduction, recycle, reuse, recovery, and repair (5Rs) schemes. To meet top-down policy goals such as a 35% recycling rate for the generated waste by 2030, incorporating digitization into the MSWM provides the city with technology-driven waste solutions.

Carbon inequality and economic development across the Belt and Road regions

Given the aim of maintaining global warming below 2 °C, carbon emission reduction has become a global top priority. Since the Belt and Road Initiative has increasing influence on manufacturing-oriented developing countries, more attention should be paid to carbon emission reduction in these regions. This study conducts a comprehensive analysis by analyzing the carbon inequality and regional development and compares the carbon emissions driven by final demand among countries in and outside the Belt and Road area from 1990 to 2015. It is found that the majority of the Belt and Road regions achieved a rapid GDP growth rate with increasing carbon emissions, in which the investment-driven type demonstrated a significant growth. In contrast, the developed countries outside the Belt and Road area maintained their economic growth while decreasing the carbon emissions owed to the declining of investment-driven emissions; however the consumption-driven emissions stably remained a relatively high level. Our results showed that the inequality of carbon emission within Belt and Road regions is lower than the global average, while the inequality of the investment-driven emissions showed an obviously increasing trend. By discussing the carbon inequality and regional development, rational and feasible strategies for countries and regions within and outside the Belt and Road area are essential, and different types of strategies such as low-carbon technologies transfers and overseas financial cooperation are suggested for regional carbon emission reduction and sustainable regional development under the Belt and Road Initiative.

A systematic method for assessing progress of achieving sustainable development goals: A case study of 15 countries

17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) were committed by 193 countries in 2015. Assessing the spatio-temporal progress of achieving the SDGs can help to track the global sustainable development progress and identify critical development issues to eventually accelerate the achievement of SDGs. However, there is a lack of methods for the quantitative assessment of the progress of achieving SDGs at the regional level (above the national level), especially systematic methods that can simultaneously assess regions along the "Belt and Road". To fill this research gap, after classifying 17 SDGs into four dimensions (society, economy, environment, means of implementation and cooperation), we have developed the Composite SDG Index to represent the comprehensive performance of achieving SDGs. Specifically, the index is constructed by two sub-indices, including the SDG subindex used to assess the overall performance of achieving the four dimensional SDGs and the Coupling Coordinated SDG subindex used for the first time in the SDG assessment to measure the coupling coordination degree between the four SDG dimensions. To implement this methodological framework, we chose 15 countries along the "Belt and Road" as the case study, and used 108 indicators to assess the performance of achieving SDGs for these countries. Eventually, various national development models and related policy recommendations were proposed. The three indices included in the methodological framework developed in this study can effectively enhance the global stakeholders' mutual understanding of the progress of achieving SDGs to support regional coordinated planning and national-level strategic decision-making.

The distribution and drivers of PM2.5 in a rapidly urbanizing region: The Belt and Road Initiative in focus

The accelerating urbanization has led to serious air pollution dominated by PM_2.5, posing a critical challenge for the environmental sustainability of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). However, a focus on the distribution and drivers of PM_2.5 concentrations in BRI is lacking. To fill in the gap, this study explores the spatio-temporal distribution of PM_2.5 concentrations in 74 nations partnering the BRI and identifies the socioeconomic and natural drivers behind the variation through the joint use of spatial autocorrelation and regression analyses. We find that the PM_2.5 concentrations of BRI show significant spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity on the national scale. The most heavily polluted regions are observed mainly in China, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and North Africa, particularly in the Arabian Gulf region. Energy intensity and per capita electricity consumption act as the major drivers of the PM_2.5 concentrations, whereas the expanding forest area contributes to the decrease in PM_2.5 concentrations notably. Our findings highlight the need for speeding up new-type urbanization as part of the green BRI practice, calling for international cooperation and coordinated action aimed at enhancing synergies of air-quality and climate policies that at present are mostly launched and implemented in isolation. From a broader point of view, in struggling towards BRI's cleaner air, more attention should be paid to creating policy synergies between the green BRI, the Paris Agreement, and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Revisiting the energy-economy-environment relationships for attaining environmental sustainability: evidence from Belt and Road Initiative countries

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an ambitious development project initiated by the Chinese government to foster economic progress worldwide. In this regard, this study aims to investigate the dynamics of energy, economy, and environment among 42 BRI developing countries using an annual frequency panel dataset from 1995 to 2019. The major findings from the econometric analyses revealed that higher levels of energy consumption, economic growth, population growth rate, and FDI inflows exhibit adverse environmental consequences by boosting the CO₂ emission figures of the selected developing BRI member nations. However, it is interesting to observe that exploiting renewable energy sources, which are relatively cleaner compared to the traditionally-consumed fossil fuels, and fostering agricultural sector development can significantly improve environmental well-being by curbing the emission levels further. On the other hand, financial development is found to be ineffective in explaining the variations in the CO₂ emission figures of the selected countries. Besides, the causality analysis shows that higher energy consumption, FDI inflows, and agricultural development cause environmental pollution by boosting CO₂ emissions. However, economic growth, technology development, financial progress, and renewable energy consumption are evidenced to exhibit bidirectional causal associations with CO₂ emissions. In line with these findings, several relevant policies can be recommended for the BRI to be environmentally sustainable.

Health Vulnerability Index for Disaster Risk Reduction: Application in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Region

Despite the importance of health vulnerability in disaster risk assessment, most of the existing disaster vulnerability indicators only emphasize economic and social vulnerability. Important underlying health risks such as non-communicable disease are not included in vulnerability measures. A three-phase methodology approach was used to construct a disaster risk model that includes a number of key health indicators which might be missing in global disaster risk analysis. This study describes the development of an integrated health vulnerability index and explains how the proposed vulnerability index may be incorporated into an all-hazard based disaster risk index in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), also known as the “Silk Road Economic Belt”, region. Relevant indicators were identified and reviewed in the published literature in PubMed/Medline. A two-stage dimension reduction statistical method was used to determine the weightings of relevant dimensions to the construction of the overall vulnerability index. The proposed final health vulnerability index included nine indicators, including the proportion of the population below 15 and above 65 years, under-five mortality ratio, maternal mortality ratio, tuberculosis prevalence, age-standardized raised blood pressure, physician ratio, hospital bed ratio, and coverage of the measles-containing-vaccine first-dose (MCV1) and diphtheria tetanus toxoid and pertussis (DTP3) vaccines. This proposed index, which has a better reflection of the health vulnerability in communities, may serve as a policy and implementation tool to facilitate the capacity-building of Health-Emergency Disaster Risk management (Health-EDRM).

China's Belt and Road Initiative: Incorporating public health measures toward global economic growth and shared prosperity

The unprecedented globalization of trade, travel, climate change, protectionism, and geopolitical populism, as well as pandemic health threats are no longer issues for a single nation. In the field of public health, China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) offers immense opportunities for partnership and collective actions involving multiple countries to combat globalization-linked infectious and/or chronic diseases, emerging pandemics, and outbreaks of potential threats to both laboratory information management systems and health information management. The national and global health challenges have increasingly proved that economic prosperity cannot be achieved when huge knowledge and capacity gaps exist in health systems. There is thus a need for public health initiatives aimed at strengthening the health systems beyond sovereign borders to influence global geo-economics. We highlight situational insights that offer approaches and strategies for increasing public health investment and capacity development in the countries along the Belt and Road, enhancing public and global health cooperation alongside participation in disease control and elimination, promoting public health governance and data sharing for pandemic threats, and building shared values and benefits in public health through Sino-African cooperation and the BRI. Our approach also examines the values of the China's BRI in relation to public health, projections and initiatives for increasing new investment and development capacity in public health systems, and enhanced public and global health cooperation and participation toward the BRI's framework and scope.

The nexus of sectoral-based CO2 emissions and fiscal policy instruments in the light of Belt and Road Initiative

Climate change due to global warming is becoming a major global issue over the past few decades. The emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gasses cause global warming. Most carbon emissions come from energy sectors, whereas transportation, industrial, and residential sectors are among the chief contributors. The present study investigates the effect of fiscal policy instruments, economic development, and foreign direct investment (FDI) on the sectoral emissions in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. The data used in this study is taken from the World Development Indicators (WDI) for the period between 2000 and 2018. Dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) have been used to analyze the long-run impact of fiscal policy instruments, economic development, and FDI on CO2 emissions from transportation, energy, and industrial sectors. Furthermore, the pairwise Dumitrescu and Hurlin panel causality test was used to authorize the causal relationship among the variables under consideration. The results reveal that fiscal policy instruments, per capita gross domestic product, FDI, and CO2 emissions show a strong correlation in the industrial, electrical, and transportation sectors. Furthermore, it is shown that public spending is a more reliable tool to reduce CO2 emissions in the transportation and industrial sectors in the BRI region. This study provides useful information for policy-makers on taking preventive and corrective measures to reduce CO2 emissions in different sectors and promote sustainable development.

The Dynamic Impact of Natural Resource Rents, Financial Development, and Technological Innovations on Environmental Quality: Empirical Evidence from BRI Economies

Until recently, many countries’ policies were motivated by economic growth; however, few strategies were developed to prevent environmental deterioration including reducing the ecological footprint. In this context, the purpose of this study was to analyze the role of natural resource rents, technological innovation, and financial development on the ecological footprint in 90 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) economies. This research divided the BRI economies into high income, middle-income, and low-income levels to capture income differences. This research used the second-generation panel unit root, cointegration, and augmented mean group estimators to calculate the robust and reliable outcomes. Based on the annual data from 1991 to 2018, the findings show that natural resource rents drastically damage the quality of the environment, whereas technological innovations are helpful in reducing ecological footprint. Moreover, the outcome of the interaction term (natural resource rents and technological innovations) negatively impacts the ecological footprint. Interestingly, these findings were similar in the three income groups. In addition, financial development improved environmental quality in the middle-income BRI economies, but reduced it in high-income, low-income, and full sample countries. Furthermore, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) concept has been validated across all BRI economies. Policymakers in BRI countries should move resources away from resource-rich sectors of industries/manufacturing sectors to enhance/promote economic growth and use these NRRs efficiently for a progressive, sustainable environment. Based on these findings, several efficient policy suggestions are proposed.

Relationship between urbanisation and pollutant emissions in transboundary river basins under the strategy of the Belt and Road Initiative

Urbanisation has increased the discharge of pollutants, altered water flow regimes, and modified the morphology of transboundary river basins. All these actions have resulted in multiple pressures on aquatic ecosystems of transboundary river basins, undermining the healthy development of their aquatic ecosystems as well as impairing the sustainable economic and social development associated therewith. Quantifying the relationship between socio-economic factors, and water environment systems, and understanding the multiple pressures in their combined impact on environmental fairness of transboundary river basins is challenging, and it is crucial to the strategic planning of the Belt and Road strategy. Here, the Songhua River basin, which is the largest branch of the China-Russia boundary river is taken as the study area. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) model, which is coupled with the integrated model (pollutant emissions intensity, pollutant discharge efficiency, and pollutant emissions per capita), are used to reveal the spatio-temporal variations in regional pollutant emissions in the SRB. The results show that the features of the EKC are present in the pollutant emissions during economic development of the SRB. It also demonstrates that the turning point value of the EKC appeared when the GDP per capita is around ¥40,000 (CNY) in the SRB, which means that the pollutant emissions show an increasing trend, when the GDP per capita is less than ¥40,000. Our findings could contribute to a better understanding of the coupling relationship between pollutant emissions in transboundary river basins and urbanisation process in water stress to help address water allocation problems.

Importance rankings of nodes in the China Railway Express network under the Belt and Road Initiative

China Railway Express (CR express) refers to the regular container trains transporting between China and European countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This paper aims to conduct the systematic and in-depth research on the importance ranking of logistics nodes across the complex CR express network from China's national plan of the BRI perspective, with consideration of the connectivity between the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR) and the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB). In doing so, first, it sets up the complex network in the CR express transport. Second, based on the restraint coefficients in the theory of structural hole such as network scale, efficiency, grading and clustering co-efficiency, this paper applies the Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) model in association with algorithm development in calculating the importance of the CR express nodes including both inland nodes and seaport nodes. The paper has three-fold contributions. In theory, it confirms the accuracy and practicability of the structural hole theory in the importance ranking of nodes in the complex network. In practice, it identifies important logistics nodes of CR express network across the BRI. Further, the findings in the paper contribute to optimising the structure of CR express transport and improving its network stability.

Revisiting the impact of trade openness on environmental sustainability in Belt and Road countries: a heterogeneous panel approach

The nations participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are particularly vulnerable to the challenges posed by climate change due to their extensive trading activities. The need to protect the environment and mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change in these countries is of utmost importance. Therefore, this study contributes to the scientific understanding of this issue by examining the relationship between trade openness and environmental sustainability in 89 BRI countries from 1990 to 2020. Additionally, control variables, including economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, industrialization, and foreign direct investment, are considered to address omitted variable bias issues. The study utilizes the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) regression estimators, and the findings reveal that trade openness improves environmental sustainability. However, economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, and industrialization degrade environmental sustainability. Interestingly, the results affirm foreign direct investment as a trivial determinant of environmental sustainability. Regarding causal relationships, reciprocal causalities are observed between trade openness and carbon emissions, energy consumption and carbon emissions, and urbanization and carbon emissions. Furthermore, one-way causalities exist from economic growth to carbon emissions and from carbon emissions to foreign direct investment. Nevertheless, no causal relationship is identified between industrialization and carbon emissions. Based on these significant findings, it is recommended that China, as a prominent player in the BRI, takes further steps to enhance and promote energy-efficient practices in BRI countries. One practical approach is the establishment of energy efficiency standards for the goods and services traded with these countries.

How does "the Belt and Road" and the Sino-US trade conflict affect global and Chinese CO2 emissions?

In the context of the rapid development of the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative, the continuous transfer of Sino-US trade to the B&R countries is an important means to mitigate the threat of Sino-US trade, and the environmental impact of this transfer should be considered, so as to provide a scientific basis for China's policy formulation about achieving this possible trade transfer with minimized environmental impacts. This study proposes a multiregional input-output model and analyzes the impact on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions of transferring the Sino-US trade to the B&R countries for two types of scenarios. The results show the following: (1) A transfer of either the import trade or the export trade increases global and Chinese CO₂ emissions by 81.76 Mt and 24.84 Mt, respectively. When both the import trade and export trade are transferred, the increases in CO₂ emissions are only 0.22% and 0.26%, respectively. (2) Globally, the changes in international trade-embodied CO₂ emissions are responsible for most of the global emission changes, especially the CO₂ emissions exported from Russia, India, and many Southeast Asian countries to China. (3) Different from the impact on global emissions, the increases in Chinese domestic production-based CO₂ emissions influence China's total CO₂ emissions. Due to the imported CO₂ emissions, the consumption-based CO₂ emissions are affected to a greater degree and increase by 70.30 Mt, accounting for only 0.86% of the CO₂ emissions in 2015. Finally, some policy implications are proposed.

International trade, Chinese foreign direct investment and green innovation impact on consumption-based CO2 emissions: empirical estimation focusing on BRI countries

Recently, The literature has directed concern towards the consumption-based carbon emission (CCE), which is adjusted for trade. This study aims to examine trade, Chinese foreign direct investment (CFDI), and green innovation (GI) to portray the overall impact of the factors influencing CCE in belt and road initiative (BRI) countries over the period 2003 to 2018. By employing the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model, the findings reveal that CFDI and imports positively influence the CCE both in the long run as well as in the short run. The results of GI and exports are found negatively significant in the host countries. The study further employs augmented mean group (AMG) and common correlated mean group (CCEMG) estimators for robustness. Like CS-ARDL, the outcomes of both estimators reveal the same findings that imports and CCE hold a positive relationship in all sample regions. Overall, the study exposes that strategies related to CCE accredited by trade and FDI should recognize their environmental repercussions and implement policies that are environmentally friendly such as green innovation and renewable energy sources to achieve a sustainable development.

The impact of climate aid on carbon emissions reduction and the role of renewable energy: evidence from the Belt and Road countries

Full mobilization and effective use of climate aid is of great importance for the low carbon transition of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. This study utilizes the two-step system generalized method of moments model to evaluate the effects of climate aid on carbon emissions reduction and the impact mechanism through energy structure optimization. The panel data of 93 Belt and Road countries from 2000 to 2018 were used for empirical analysis. Results show that climate aid has a significant reduction effect on the carbon emissions intensity of BRI countries, and the dominant component of climate aid, i.e., mitigation aid, corresponds to better carbon emissions reduction benefits than adaptation aid. The impact mechanism demonstrates that the climate aid has dual carbon emissions reduction effects in BRI countries which have an intermediate energy structure. It indicates that climate aid not only directly reduces carbon emissions by increasing carbon reduction resources, but also indirectly reduces carbon emissions by promoting renewable energy and optimizing the energy structure. The results evidence the theory of environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and channels of climate aid effects. Practical implications from the current study include that more climate finance support should be provided to BRI countries by developed countries, the effectiveness of climate aid should be improved by investing in projects with significant carbon reduction like renewable energy, data monitoring and performance evaluation of climate aid should be strengthened, and China should take its role and make more contributions to the low carbon transition especially energy transition of BRI countries.

[Control of imported mosquito-borne diseases under the Belt and Road Initiative]

Mosquito is a vector of many infectious diseases, and it is recognized a leading killer of human in the world. After the Belt and Road Initiative launches, more are countries involved and the international communication and cooperation are significantly growing in China. Therefore, the risk of imported infectious diseases is increasing as well, some mosquito-borne diseases which have been well controlled or seldom seen in China, will be more risky to cause locally transmission from imported cases and become the threat to people's health in China. This paper reviews the risk of major imported mosquito borne-diseases to China, and discusses the control strategy as well, so as to provide the suggestion for entry-exit inspection and control of imported mosquito-borne diseases in China.

Report of Alliance of International Science Organizations on Disaster Risk Reduction (ANSO-DRR) Conference 2020

This article summarizes the proceedings of the four-session meeting (webinar) conducted by the Alliance of International Science Organizations on Disaster Risk Reduction (ANSO-DRR) on 18 May 2020. ANSO-DRR is an international, nonprofit and nongovernmental scientific alliance bringing together academies of science, research organizations and universities which share a strong interest in disaster risk reduction in the regions along the land-based and maritime routes of the Belt and Road Initiative. ANSO-DRR convenes an annual meeting to review its work progress and discuss its scientific programs. The first session was the opening statements and was followed by the introduction and updates on ANSO-DRR in the second session. The third session was the depiction of the big picture of ANSO, the umbrella organization of ANSO-DRR, led by the Assistant Executive Director of ANSO, while the fourth session was a presentation of perspectives on the strategic development of ANSO-DRR. One of ANSO-DRR’s key strategies is to enhance disaster mitigation and response through multidisciplinary cooperation among disaster and healthcare sciences (i.e., health emergency and disaster risk management (Health-EDRM)). It aims to enhance DRR efforts by performing as an instrument in connecting people along the Belt and Road regions, focusing on DRR resource and database development, involving higher education institutions in DRR efforts and increasing disaster resilience in built infrastructures.

Energy consumption, economic growth, and environmental sustainability challenges for Belt and Road countries: a fresh insight from "Chinese Going Global Strategy"

The present study investigated the impact of energy- and economy-related variables on CO2 emissions in 49 countries of the Belt and Road Initiative from 1995-2018. The robust type of cross-section dependence and heterogeneity methods was adopted to analyze data set of countries. Energy consumption, foreign direct investment, medium and high-tech industry, and GDP have been found highly unfavorable for the ecological health (CO2 emissions) in 49 nations on BRI panel. However, renewable energy consumption has been found in positive correlation with environmental quality (CO2). Financial development indicator has no significant impact on CO2 emissions in present study. The present outcomes clearly claim strong relationship of economic growth and energy with increased CO2 emissions in 49 nations. Therefore, it is important for policy makers, experts, and governments to incentivize and appreciate portfolio investors for sustainable green investments to transform the economic growth into a sustainable and energy efficient development.

The heterogeneous effects of urbanisation and institutional quality on greenhouse gas emissions in Belt and Road Initiative countries

The rise of urbanisation in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries that contribute to the disruption of the ecosystem, which would affect global sustainability, is a pressing concern. This study provides new evidence of the impact of urbanisation and institutional quality on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the selected 48 BRI countries from the years 1984 to 2017. The models of this study are inferred by using panel regression model and panel quantile regression model to meet the objectives of our study as it contemplates unobserved country heterogeneity. From the panel regression model, the findings indicate that although urbanisation in BRI supports the 'life effect' hypothesis that could dampen the environment quality, this effect could be reduced through better institutional quality. Using the quantile regression method, this study concludes that one-size-fits-all strategies to reduce GHG emissions in countries with different GHG emissions levels are improbable to achieve success for all. Hence, GHG emissions control procedures should be adjusted differently across high-emission, middle-emission and low-emission countries. Based on these results, this study provides novel intuitions for policymakers to wisely plan the urbanisation blueprints to eradicate unplanned urbanisation and improve institutional quality in meeting pollution mitigation goals.

Evaluation of One Belt One Road publications: a bibliometric and literature review analysis

AbstractThe aim of the "One Belt and One Road" (OBOR) project proposed by China is to encourage extension of global value chains, facilitate regional integration and increase efficient resource allocation. In recent times, scientific literature has examined the investment decisions of the OBOR investment and how it will affect the governmental policies, environmental initiatives, and bilateral flow of economic resources. Current study, based on Web of Science database, uses bibliometric methodology to map the research trends in OBOR publications. We contribute in the economic literature in the associated fields of OBOR publications in the following ways: (1) identify the most influential researchers, articles, and academic institutions, (2) mapping the interdisciplinary character of OBOR investments and its bibliometric similarity to adjacent fields, (3) visualize nature and trends of the research field, and (4) synthesizing future research areas. Although OBOR initiative has received considerable traction, but to this date, there is no bibliometric study on this topic. The findings of current study will help policymakers and academics to navigate the OBOR literature, provide a systematic basis for developing the field, and suggest promising future research avenues.

An exploration of the effect of Belt and Road Initiative on carbon emissions embodied in China's manufacturing industry exports

This study evaluates the impact of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on direct and indirect carbon emissions from China's manufacturing goods production and trade processes with 64 countries along the belt and road (B&R). The analysis is based on China's 189 trading partners (countries and regions) and 26 industrial sectors using the Eora Global Multi-Regional Input-Output Database for 2001-2016 and the difference-in-differences method. The results indicate that to most countries along the B&R, the carbon emissions embodied in China's manufacturing industry exports exceed import-carbon emissions. Energy and heavy industries are the main net exporters of carbon emissions. It is noted that the BRI significantly increases the carbon emissions embodied in China's manufacturing exports. The BRI's effect is more obvious in energy and heavy manufacturing, in Maritime Silk Road countries and in developing countries along the B&R. While the BRI fosters carbon emissions embodied in China's manufacturing exports by promoting export volume, and reduces them by promoting low-carbon technological innovation, improving China's relative position in the global value chain in the region does not affect carbon emissions embodied in China's manufacturing exports. Our findings lead to several important policy implications at a time when the region is experiencing enormous challenges in reducing CO2 emissions.

Exploring a new development direction of the Belt and Road Initiative in the transitional period towards the post-COVID-19 era

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, its impacts have been envisaged in multi-dimensional ways, including global supply chains, international logistics, and transportation. Owing to a series of virus variants since 2020, several Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects have been halted along the Belt and Road (B&R), and their implementation progress has been affected. In addition, China, which initiated the BRI in 2013, has been facing challenges which are caused by its economic, socio-demographic, and international political structural changes. Moreover, growing conflicts and tensions in international trade and politics, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine, China-US trade conflicts, foreign companies' reshoring the production lines from China, and diplomatic disputes between China and Australia, have been interwoven with the impacts of COVID-19 on the supply chains, international trade, and transportation in the world. Having considered the above, this study explores a new research-driven approach to reignite the BRI momentum in the transitional period towards the post-COVID-19 era from a Chinese economic perspective. In doing so, this paper proposes nine research agendas, such as the optimization network of transportation and logistics distribution centers (LDCs) along the B&R, priority development and performance of LDCs, greening the B&R with green shipping corridors, revisiting port devolution continuum, humanitarian logistics in association with COVID-19, security and risk analysis of China's energy supply chains, and export of the 6th Generation Ports (6GP) model with smart ports to major container ports along the port supply chains. Each research agenda is addressed with its motivation, significance, and applicable and representative methods.