Data di Pubblicazione:
2020
Citazione:
Classification of Sustainable Activities: EU Taxonomy and Scientific Literature / C. Lucarelli, C. Mazzoli, M. Rancan, S. Severini. - In: SUSTAINABILITY. - ISSN 2071-1050. - 12:16(2020), pp. 6460.1-6460.25. [10.3390/su12166460]
Abstract:
In March 2020, the European Commission published the EU Taxonomy, a classification
system of economic activities that can be considered environmentally sustainable. Motivated by
this policy initiative, we propose a bibliometric analysis, based on the Web of Science database for
the period January 1990–March 2020, regarding the extant scientific production related to the EU
Taxonomy environmental objectives and macro-sectors. We find that a considerable number of
scientific works—161,595 publications—have investigated Taxonomy-related areas, showing that the
EU Taxonomy defined a working method, based on the cooperation among regulators, academics,
and industry, representing a valuable example of evidence-based policy making. Furthermore, topic
modelling analysis shows that extracted papers focused on improvements in production processes,
innovation, and environmental performance. Thus, exploiting time and geographic patterns of the
scientific publications, we perform a multivariate analysis to investigate its relationship with
subsequent levels of pollution. Our evidence shows that, for the past, a higher level of EU
Taxonomy-related publications is associated with a lower level of CO2 emissions, supporting
the view that scientific production has a societal impact in terms of environmental sustainability.
Accordingly, now that EU Taxonomy-related topics have been incorporated into policy measures,
further positive environmental effects are expected from here on out.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
sustainable economic activities; environmental objectives; Taxonomy; sustainable finance;
carbon emissions
Elenco autori:
C. Lucarelli, C. Mazzoli, M. Rancan, S. Severini
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