Renewable energy is the key pillar and plays an important role in the energy systems of European Union member states and in mitigating climate change. It is supporting the transition towards a greener, resource-efficient and more competitive, low-carbon European Union economy. Above-average, average and below-average values of monitored indicators in member states of the European Union in 2009–2016 were ascertained by using principal component analysis. Monitored indicators of the renewable energy sector included electricity generation, electricity capacity, investments of public financial institutions, number of employees and turnover achieved from the economic activities related to production, distribution, installation, operation and maintenance of equipment (all of them per capita). Based on the achieved results, we can state that the situation changed during the period under review. Member states have moved between above-average, average and below-average levels of renewable energy indicators. However, a lack of change in the indicators was recorded in some member states throughout the eight-year period (Finland, France, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Spain did not move significantly). Renewable energy sources (hydro, wind, solar, geothermal and energy from biomass) were evaluated as a whole due to different natural, economic and legislative conditions of European Union countries.

Greening the economy requires green innovations, and innovations require investments. Most countries of the world are still relying on conventional (fossil-based) sources of energy. The transition toward green or renewable energy sources is an effective and innovative way to meet ever-increasing demand as a result of the rising population. Another reason for innovations in the field of green energy is the need to mitigate climate change and avoid pollution, especially in developing countries. The monitored investments into renewable energy sources are usually public. Therefore, this paper aims to determine whether the selected countries of the world produced renewable energy efficiently, considering the investments made by public financial institutions and installed electricity capacity for renewable energy sources, for the period 2013–2017 (for a deeper analysis, the year 2017 was chosen). For this purpose, the Stochastic Frontier Analysis model in the logarithmic form of the Cobb-Douglas production function is used, which helps to judge the competitiveness of countries based on effectively transforming the inputs into outputs. Results suggest that the effect of the first variable “installed electricity capacity” on electricity generation was highly statistically significant, and the impact of the second variable “public investments” was characterized as statistically insignificant. The monitored countries were divided into 10 groups according to the different range of estimated output-oriented technical efficiency from 0.00 to 1.00. Most countries should increase the renewable electricity generation approximately by 40-49%, given the level of inputs (16 countries of 6th group with estimated output-oriented technical efficiency 0.51-0.60) for the year 2017.

Climate change poses a significant challenge to the agricultural sector, with far-reaching implications on a global scale. As the agriculture sector plays a critical role in the economy of the Slovak Republic, it is crucial to understand the impacts of climate change and, with it, the vulnerabilities that agricultural practices face. Agricultural production and food sustainability are intricately linked to various factors, including population growth and the effects of climate change. This paper focuses on analyzing the production of maize in Slovakia and identifying the factors driving its cultivation. We aim to assess how climate factors influence maize yields across different temperature and precipitation levels through comprehensive data analysis and statistical methods. By utilizing the stochastic production function proposed by Just and Pope (1979) for 1996 to 2022 and estimating model parameters using GRETL software, we aim to provide insights into the relationship between climate change and maize production. Furthermore, we explore the implications of our findings for the sustainability of agricultural practices in Slovakia. Our analysis reveals that the impact of temperature and precipitation on maize yield varies by month and exhibits a nonlinear nature, with climate changes generally exerting a negative influence. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for developing sustainable agricultural strategies that can mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on maize production and ensure long-term food security.

Despite a decreased share of gross domestic product, the role of a country’s food and beverage industry cannot be underestimated. Food security should be a crucial part of national policy in every country because, during critical situations, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it plays a key role in the protection of a country’s citizens. The food industry also plays a key role in employment and the sustainable development of all countries. We investigated the latest trends and focused on one specific branch of the food industry. Although the spirits industry does not have a major market share in the food industry, it is one of the branches with the highest added value, and it produces commodities with high export potential. This branch of the food industry in the Slovak Republic has a long tradition. Our primary aim was to examine the competitiveness of this sector in a single market of the EU as a key element of its sustainable development. The results obtained for the revealed comparative advantage suggest that there was a downturn in the number of competitive branches in the Slovak spirits industry during the study period of 2004–2018. Despite this negative trend, the remaining competitive branches of the Slovak spirits industry represent the majority of exports.