Recognising the urgency of addressing climate change and the imperative to mitigate its effects, the European Union (EU) has embarked on a transformative journey to reshape its energy landscape, with a pronounced emphasis on harnessing renewable energy sources (RESs) and augmenting their contribution to electricity generation. To propel Europe towards sustainable development through its energy transition, EU member states are encouraged to foster collaborative efforts on a European scale, inviting neighbouring countries to participate in joint ventures aimed at leveraging RESs for electricity generation. Consequently, it becomes imperative to evaluate the potential depth of cooperation among these nations, assessing how such partnerships can align with Europe’s overarching objectives while fostering mutually beneficial conditions. This paper seeks to undertake a thorough analysis and evaluation of the potential impacts of such cooperation, both in advancing RES objectives and in promoting broader cooperation goals concerning the countries involved. The appropriate methodological framework has been developed, utilising and implementing the fuzzy PROMETHEE multicriteria decision analysis method, to address the problem’s multidimensional character, intending to implement an appropriate action plan and promote production from RESs. The methodology has been applied to assess alternative strategies in two case study countries, Morocco and Egypt, while important outcomes have emerged towards the successful implementation of cooperation mechanisms promoting RES.

Investing in energy efficiency (EE) could play a crucial role in transitioning to a future economy, where sustainable growth will be the centre of attention. To reach such EE investments, a mobilisation of capital through the targeted use of funds, innovative schemes and standardisation tools for the respective key actors is required. The European Union Horizon 2020 Triple-A project could assist in securing EE investments that could meet their financial commitments. This manuscript provides a standardised methodology and tools to assess the involved risks and benchmarks the proposed investment ideas, helping investors and policymakers choose the most profitable solution. This manuscript summarises the methodology established, tools developed, and results that emerged from Triple-A’s venture to mainstream EE financing.

Energy poverty remains a pressing social and policy challenge across Europe, particularly in countries like Greece, where economic disparities and climatic conditions vary significantly between regions. This paper presents a scalable and transparent methodological framework for assessing energy poverty using the 10% indicator based on the actual energy expenditure, calculated exclusively from open-access statistical data. The study estimates annual 10% metric values from 2012 to 2023 at both national and regional levels, covering all 13 administrative regions of Greece. By integrating key variables such as household energy consumption, energy prices, income, population distribution, and heating degree days, the framework enables regional comparisons without relying on costly or inaccessible household-level data. The results reveal substantial regional disparities, with northern and mountainous areas consistently exhibiting higher 10% index values due to lower incomes and greater heating needs, while southern and island regions remain less affected. Despite national values remaining below the conventional 10% threshold throughout the period, the findings highlight that significant areas of vulnerability persist. The proposed approach offers a practical tool for policymakers to identify high-risk areas, prioritize building renovation efforts, and support socially inclusive energy transition strategies across the EU.

As the ESG principles are rapidly becoming critical in the decision-making process of investment undertaking, companies must deal with ESG reporting either to fulfil obligatory requirements according to EU legislation or, to stay competitive and in line with the investing trends. In the market, several ESG rating methodologies exist consisting of numerous criteria and indicators that companies must consider in their reporting. Nevertheless, neither all ESG rating frameworks consider the same criteria, nor do all criteria have the same materiality weighting when estimating the final ESG rating. Thus, the establishment of a standardized and normalized ESG criteria materiality framework is considered crucial. This will enable the fine-tuning and calibration of the ESG evaluation, with materiality values that reflect accordingly the significance of the most important criteria. In addition, this methodology will enhance the comparability of the results of the different companies’ evaluations while creating a harmonized framework. The present manuscript introduces an integrated methodology for the estimation of the ESG materiality factors putting emphasis on the most frequent criteria of the main economic sectors. The methodology analyses data from several sources, including academic papers and methodologies, companies’ reports and globally established rating frameworks. The proposed approach results in the estimation of the materiality values for each criterion of a specific ESG rating scorecard, as well as introduces an overview of the materiality issues for each economic sector.