The worldwide Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for smart cities and communities focus significant attention on air quality and climate change. Technology and management can reduce fossil fuel dependence in smart cities’ energy supply chains (SC). A sustainable smart city and reduced carbon emissions require coordinated technology and management with appropriate infrastructure. A systematic review of smart city SC management literature that reduces the carbon footprint (C.F) inspired this study. The study shows how each attribute reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Introduction highlights the subject matter and principal goal, which is to investigate how SC management strategies could assist smart cities in lowering their C.F. The Methods and Materials section provides a succinct description of the refining process in Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses in Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) relevant to C.F mitigation in smart city (SC) management. Significant works are described in the Results and Findings section, which exposes how smart cities and SC measurements reduce C.F. The Discussion section examines and scientifically debates the research findings. The Conclusion provides a scientific analysis based on the presented insights and features to enhance how policies must be coordinated to achieve the goal of this research study in a comprehensive way. Furthermore, it provides suggestions for practitioners and governments, and proposals for future research. The main contribution of this paper is conducting and proposing a framework for a better understanding of how the novel digital SCs, their components, and their management practices can help smart cities reduce their C.F.

To lessen the environmental impact of the maritime industry, ports must decarbonize in conformity with various standards such as the European Green Deal and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this regard, they must demonstrate integrated low-emission energy production, distribution, and supply, as well as sustainable alternative infrastructure for refueling ships, cargo handling equipment, and other vehicles inside port boundaries. To address this issue, ports must progress toward smartening their operations. This requires intelligent infrastructure and components, with smart energy infrastructure being one of the most crucial ones. It is a part of port energy management systems (EMSs) and works based on modern technology to balance energy demand, distributions, and supply while transitioning to renewable energies. This study investigates the “scoping review” of “smart energy infrastructure” deployment and its efficiency in seaport EMSs to reduce the port’s carbon footprint (C.F). The “Introduction” section discusses the subject’s significance. The “Materials and Methods” section explains the process of selecting and revising references and relevant material. The “Findings” section then examines the several aspects and sections of a smart port and smart energy infrastructure, as well as how they function. The “Discussion” section explains the interpretation based on the present situation. Finally, the “Conclusion” part gives scientific thoughts and comments on the work-study debate and ideas for future research in the same field to help port authorities achieve sustainability.

Seaport activities account for 3% of global carbon emissions, and as an important industrialised economic centre, ports engage in numerous industrial and financial activities that could increase their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and carbon footprints (CF). The 13th sustainable development goal (SDG) states that these activities must be balanced with environmental considerations. Therefore, as critical marine infrastructure, seaports need CF reduction initiatives. This scoping review covers important ideas and ways to reduce the CF in seaports to simplify future policymaking. These approaches include energy management systems, equipment and infrastructures, and carbon emission policies and laws specific to ports. Relevant literature is classified, evaluated, and discussed. The findings are interpreted and discussed based on the current state of ports around the world, using statistical data to demonstrate that there are sufficient regulations and standards in place, but that more work is needed to replace conventional systems with intelligent ones and fossil fuels with renewable energy. Finally, the scoping review results, and scientific interpretations, thoughts, proposals, and recommendations are presented as references for related studies in the future.

Recently, decarbonizing the maritime industry, which accounts for 2.8% of world emissions, has become essential. However, as a crucial component of maritime transportation, container shipping also carries substantial significance. In this context, the International Maritime Organization endeavors to endorse several projects and methods to mitigate maritime transport emissions. As a result, this research assesses frameworks, infrastructure, training, and other critical factors to analyze multiple operational and technological possibilities for predicted decarbonization solutions in container shipping using the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to assess ship owners’ and stakeholders’ desires. It employs a comprehensive methodology that begins with a systematic literature review using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) method to prepare questionaries, followed by an MCDM analysis using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) methods to examine the results. This research contributes to the scholarly discourse on reducing the emissions of maritime transportation. According to the findings, operational alternatives, such as ship speed, trim, and maritime route optimizations, are considerably more appealing than design and technology solutions, such as technically advanced ship hulls or machinery reforms. The pragmatic advantages of the operational alternatives, such as lower costs and shorter implementation schedules, stimulate their adoption. In contrast, design and technological solutions can influence emission reductions in the long term. It is possible to find operational alternatives for short-term decarbonization, while technological and design advancements can aid in long-term emission reductions in container shipping.

According to the 2020 European Sea Ports Organization Environmental Report, ports are the second biggest environmental concern for climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the International Association of Ports and Harbors determined that seaports are carbon-intensive and environmentally harmful because of increased commercial and non-commercial activities surrounding them. Due to the urgent concern to address solutions in this research line, this study aims to present a frame of reference to estimate the Carbon Footprint in ports through an innovative method. The study design presents a Meta-Analyses Scoping Review based on the PRISMA-ScR methodology to analyse the current articles, normativity and primary resources related to the Carbon Footprint estimation approach in seaports. Then, a categorization for the new method of Carbon Footprint and scopes description calculation is presented. Besides, the Port of Valencia, a famous Spanish port, provides the case study to apply and confirm the approach. Findings state that this new approach, with the designation of new boundaries and factors affecting ports’ emissions would lead to an accurate estimation of the carbon footprint of ports. The originality and value of this work-study deliver scientific interpretations, reflections, and suggestions for future research and validation.

The maritime transport industry contributes around 3% to worldwide CO₂ emissions, with 2023 emissions projected to be approximately 58 billion tons. Consequently, to attain decarbonization objectives, the implementation of effective reduction measures in maritime operations, especially at seaports as significant contributors, is essential. On the other hand, seaport operations are categorized into two main areas: land logistics, encompassing cargo handling, storage, customs processing, and inland transportation, and maritime logistics, which includes vessel traffic management, berth allocation, cargo loading and unloading, and fuel and maintenance services. While land logistics’ decarbonization has been extensively studied, maritime logistics operations, accounting for about 60% of port CO₂ emissions, remain underexplored. Their progress relies on regulations, cleaner fuels, and digital solutions; yet high costs and slow adoption pose significant challenges. As a result, this study employed PRISMA-ScR methodology to select relevant research resources and validate global reports from international organizations, enhancing transparency and providing practitioners and experts with a comprehensive analysis of seaport maritime emissions, as well as decarbonization initiatives. This study analyzes the future trajectory of the initiative based on current data, evaluating its potential benefits and systematically reviewing recent literature. It explores decarbonization strategies in maritime operations, emphasizing regulations, cleaner fuels, and digital solutions while highlighting challenges such as high costs and slow adoption. Key issues examined include maritime border delineation, infrastructure constraints, technological advancements, regulatory barriers, and the opportunities that decarbonized seaports offer to ports and their surrounding regions.