The article presents the state of research on the greenwashing. Greenwashing is a popular research trend; recently (especially, 2020–2023), more and more systematic reviews have been published. However, unlike other reviews, the article presents the broadest possible research perspective, without highlighting any research trends. The original approach is expressed in the article as a review of literature reviews. As a result of the research conducted using correspondence analysis in the years 2007–2023, 112 publications were isolated and grouped into six clusters presenting publications according to groups of enterprises, the geographical context of the study, entity that can use the research results, and factors negatively correlated with greenwashing. The obtained results show that greenwashing is an increasingly popular research trend; various stakeholders, including governments and financial institutions, can use research results. Articles related to Africa have their characteristics and constitute a separate research motive.

The article aims to systematize the state of knowledge of and research on the inclusion of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) risk in companies’ business models, with a special stress on energy sector companies. Many publications address incorporating ESG, but only some deal with it from the perspective of business models. This paper fills that gap. The methods of incorporating ESG risk into a sustainable business model, identified on the basis of the literature review, were verified based on the examples of three companies from the energy industry. A two-stage review of publications from the WoS and Scopus databases was carried out, considering a more comprehensive (sustainability) and a narrower (ESG risk) range of keywords, and the period from 2000 to 2022. The result showed that SMEs and large enterprises consider ESG risk in their risk management systems (ERMs), while small enterprises and start-ups do not. In Europe, Asia, and Australia, it is common to include ESG risk in an ERM, while it is rare in Latin America. In developing countries, companies in the service sector are more likely to include ESG risk in ERMs than those in the manufacturing sector. These findings may be useful for policymakers who wish to provide support and financial incentives for companies transforming their business models toward sustainability.

In conditions of limited natural resources, growing social awareness, and ESG risk, sustainability and the pressure to be sustainable are gaining importance. Legislative requirements, good practices and recommendations as well as the stakeholders themselves expect from market participants, especially from the enterprise sector, that they will incorporate sustainability in their activities. Enterprises undertake adaptation activities towards sustainability by creating sustainable value based on their business models. The article aims to systematize the state of knowledge on how companies create sustainable value. Research results in this area are dispersed, and more studies discussing this topic comprehensively are needed. The article fills the gap in research by reviewing the existing studies on creating sustainable value. The analysis of publications was based on the academic databases of Elsevier Scopus and Web‐of‐Science. 101 publications were reviewed, and 31 categorization variables related to the area of research and issues addressed in scientific publications were created. Using a multidimensional correspondence analysis, three homogeneous clusters of publications were obtained: group I refers to articles concerning enterprises of various sizes (micro, small, SME, and start‐up); group II includes publications on Asia and Australia, which appeared in 2020 or later; group III concerns articles related to the research of large production companies in developed European countries. The result shows that companies build sustainable value in various ways, influenced by company's location and size. Among the dominant patterns of incorporating sustainable value, the following are indicated: building a sustainable supply chain, innovations, building relationships with stakeholders and consumers, sharing economy.

One of the key challenges for climate policies is the identification of strategies that will effectively support the implementation of environmental goals. Environmental policies are connected with other development policies carried out by governments. In order to comprehensively shape environmental policy, it is important to understand the interactions between sustainable development goals (SDGs) as well as their impact on environmental goals. Employing econometric modeling based on the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (Lasso) method and full-factorial analysis, the authors identify a number of statistically significant relationships between the implementation of sustainable development goals and the environmental variable represented by greenhouse gas emissions. Analysis reveals that implementation of particular sustainable development goals, namely SDG4 (Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities) and SDG17 (Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development), explicitly facilitate the achievement of environmental policies. In addition, other SDGs exert an indirect influence on environmental goals through their reinforcing interactions with SDG4 and SDG17 variables. These are: SDG1 (End poverty), SDG3 (Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being), SDG8 (Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, and productive employment) and SDG15 (Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests and halt biodiversity loss). These findings have important implications for proper identification of effective government policy instruments which indirectly support the achievement of environmental goals.

Several studies have examined the relationship between environmental performance and economic development. However, most of them did not take sustainable development and financial development into account. The study argues that sustainable financial and economic development contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We use the panel data regression model to capture the relationship between greenhouse gas emission and sustainable economic and financial development. The panel data refers to the period of 2007–2017. The EU 25 countries were analysed. The results show that the relationship between sustainable financial development and environmental degradation is more relevant for converging economies than developed countries. We found that the variable “energy productivity” has the strongest impact on greenhouse gas emissions for both country groups (converging and developed); however, it increases for developed countries and it decreases the greenhouse gas emissions for converging economies. We also found that environmental taxes are an efficient instrument that mitigates greenhouse gas emissions, especially in developed countries group.

Introduction: Although a large number of publications are devoted to analyzing the relationship between financial development and economic growth, we focused on the answer to the question that sustainable development is accompanied by financial development in particular European Union countries. To our best knowledge, it is a new and original research approach that addresses important research gaps.Methodology: A synthetic indicator based on 13 variables was built to assess the level of sustainable development, taking into account the financial aspect. Fuzzy logic was used to assess the relationship between the level of sustainable development and financial development. It is an original and novel approach.Results: The research results showed significant differences between the north and south and Europe’s east and west. The highest levels of the synthetic measure for all analyzed periods were recorded for Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, and the lowest for Lithuania (2013), Cyprus (2014–2015), and Bulgaria (2016–2021). Over the nine years covered by the analysis, the level of sustainable development, considering the financial aspect, improved in two countries: Germany and Portugal, but deteriorated in six: Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Latvia, Romania, and Slovenia. In all analyzed years, the higher the level of the synthetic measure (sustainable development), the higher the value of the financial development index (FDI index).Discussion: When developing sustainable development policies, policymakers should consider their links with financial development and the policy of developing and regulating financial markets. Financial markets are essential for sustainability, and finance is a crucial driver of sustainable development.