Good agricultural practice (GAP) helps increase productivity by producing fresh fruit bunches (FFBs), and selling FFBs will increase Independent Smallholders’ (ISH) income. However, although GAP promotes increased productivity, the effectiveness of GAP in delivering the well-being of the ISH in oil palm production areas remains to be determined. To that end, this study (i) measures the smallholder’s well-being index, (ii) compares the well-being index by states in Malaysia, and (iii) maps the relationship between GAP implementation, productivity, and well-being. The study selected respondents using purposive sampling (PS). PS identifies and selects individuals with Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification and knowledge and experience of GAP. As a result, the research interviewed 564 ISHs with MSPO certification from 162 Sustainable Palm Oil Clusters (SPOC). The study used Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and the Structural Equation Model (SEM) framework to achieve the objectives. The study found that the average ISH well-being index was 0.62, and ISHs in Sabah had the highest well-being, with 0.73 compared to other states. The study also found that GAP influences productivity and is positively and significantly related to well-being. Therefore, it indicates to ISHs and the government the importance of GAP implementation to increase ISHs’ productivity and well-being.

Extensive non-engineered landfilling practice in developing countries has raised environmental concerns, but operating a sanitary landfill appears infeasible due to financial incapability. This study aims to determine the feasibility of a sanitary landfill project by including its environmental values into the project appraisal while simultaneously applying three policy-relevant methods—non-market valuation, benefits transfer, and cost-benefit analysis—in two study areas in Peninsular Malaysia. The non-market valuation study used choice modeling, a questionnaire-based technique, to elicit willingness to pay among 624 households toward the environmental attributes of the sanitary landfill. Their responses resulted in the monetary values of the environmental attributes by referring to implicit prices of leachate discharge, bad odor, disease vector and view. The implicit prices of bad odor (RM2.29 per month) and view (RM3.59 per month) in the two study areas were transferable and used as a proxy of additional solid waste disposal payment in environmental cost-benefit analysis. Positive net present value offers empirical evidence of the feasibility of the sanitary landfill project. The findings show that the inclusion of environmental values in project appraisals increases the chances of implementing sanitary landfills, providing a new approach to address the environmental concerns in developing countries. Future research should consider the external costs along with the external benefits to allow for a comprehensive comparison between environmental values in environmental cost-benefit analysis.

Sustainable economic resilience demands economic diversification activities in rural areas that emphasize the important role of sustainable productivity growth in achieving balanced development and reducing rural areas’ dependence on local or central government support. This conceptual paper explores the concept and mechanisms of green tourism, investigating the opportunities and challenges of green tourism development in rural areas to create sustainable economic resilience. Diversification, particularly through green tourism, serves as an important mechanism to enhance the resilience and well-being of rural communities by reducing their vulnerability to external shocks and economic disruptions. This approach promotes greater self-reliance and reduces the economic risks associated with over-reliance on traditional industries. This study argues that green tourism in rural areas offers opportunities to revitalize local economies, preserve cultural heritage, and protect the environment, while diversifying livelihoods and engaging communities in sustainable practices. However, it also faces challenges, including the risk of environmental disruption from excessive restoration, weak community involvement, cultural dilution, social fragmentation, and the need for effective policy frameworks to ensure long-term economic resilience.

This study incorporates environmental regulation, green technological innovation, and industrial structure upgrading into a unified analytical framework. Collecting panel data from 71 core prefecture-level cities in the Chengdu–Chongqing, Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River and Yangtze River Delta urban agglomerations from 2011 to 2023, adopting fixed-effects, mediation, and moderation models to investigate how environmental regulation and green technological innovation affect industrial structure upgrading, through which mechanisms these effects occur, and how inclusive digital finance moderates these relationships. The findings reveal that command-and-control and guidance-based environmental regulations all exert positive effects on industrial structure upgrading. Green technological innovation serves as a mediating mechanism through which command-and-control environmental regulation promotes industrial structure upgrading. Inclusive digital finance acts as a boundary condition shaping the effect of environmental regulation on industrial structure upgrading. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals regional variation in how different types of environmental regulation affect industrial structure upgrading. This study proposes policy recommendations that urban agglomerations should attach greater importance to green innovation, enhance the breadth and depth of inclusive digital finance utilization, and establish appropriate local environmental regulatory support systems so as to promote industrial structure upgrading.

This study aimed to analyze the overview of the impact of socio-economic indicators and the economy of areas exposed to the 2004 Aceh tsunami in the South-western region of Aceh Province, namely West Aceh district, Simeulue district, Nagan Raya district and Aceh Jaya district after five years humanitarian assistance on economic growth towards sustainable environmental development. The study used secondary data with panel data that was collected from Central Bureau of Statistics of Aceh Province and Bank Indonesia of Banda Aceh branch, each of which was obtained over a period of 13 years from 2010 to 2022. While multiple linear regression is employed as a quantitative method for data analysis. The study findings that indicate that indicator of socio, the poverty has a significant effect on economic growth each with a value 0,0782 with significance level of α = 10%. Meanwhile, the economic indicator, namely inflation, haven’t a statistically significant impact of 0.6517 on economic growth at a significance level of α = 5% or α = 10%. The equation of this model is obtained EG = 0,6797+3,3654LnTP-0,0365INF+ε. Next, the correlation coefficient is 0.0652 and determination coefficient is 0,0271, with value of ttest 1,798836 for total poverty and 0,454205 for inflation as well as Ftest value is 1,709245. However, after the 2004 Aceh earthquake and tsunami disaster, poverty rates have been reduced, but only in the medium term (5-6 years) and currently the condition of the poor population is almost continuously improving. It’s recommended that the regional and Acehnese and central governments recommend various social programs to overcome poverty and also in terms of population. The long-term impact is economic growth continues to rise and facilitates the process of developing a sustainable environment so that it will be better in the future.

Financial restriction and excessive demand for solid waste disposal is a press-ing issue in developing countries. Neglecting this problem can worsen environmental damage and endanger public health. To address this challenge, this study investigated the influence of social factors on the willingness to pay for a sanitary landfill in Malaysia using choice modelling. Focusing on neighbouring districts, Kota Bharu and Bachok, where households share a crude-dumping landfill, the study collected data from 624 respondents. The findings revealed a common preference among respondents for a sanitary landfill attribute related to controlled disease vectors, with willingness to pay ranging from RM10.66 to RM13.33 per month. Interestingly, despite experiencing adverse effects from the crude-dumping landfill, respondents from Bachok still showed a preference for it. This preference could be influenced by lower mean incomes among Bachok residents who live closer to the landfill site compared to respondents in Kota Bharu. To address these dynamics, implementing cross-subsidies by charging higher prices to households in Kota Bharu and lower prices to households in Bachok could facilitate the successful implementation of the sanitary landfill. These results can inform other developing countries by highlighting the importance of considering the local social context when designing sustainable solid waste policies.