In recent decades, the terrestrial ecosystem in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK), Pakistan, has undergone tremendous destruction. To restore environmental conditions, the government implemented the Billion Tree Afforestation Program (BTAP), with a high target to impact multidimensional aspects of the terrestrial ecosystem. The government claims that it is local residents who have benefited the most from the BTAP. Hence, the objective of this research was to examine the socioeconomic impact and local rural perception of the BTAP in three districts of KPK. Primary data were collected from 406 households. Fundamental orientation theory was used to assess the social impacts of the BTAP, while cost–benefit analysis was applied to examine its economic impact. The results show that the overall social impacts of the BTAP are satisfactory and beneficial, increasing social sustainability by 69% between 2014 and 2018. Additionally, based on the cost–benefit analysis and perception-based analysis, it was found that the BTAP positively affects the economic conditions of rural households. The community livelihood increased during the program, with a total net income of 6.9 million USD in the three districts of KPK. It is concluded that the majority of respondents have benefited from participation in the BTAP. The sustainability of rural livelihood is one of the main concerns related to the establishment of the BTAP. Effort is needed by the government and other parties to both increase rural household income and to protect the environment.

In this study, we assessed the impact of the Billion Trees Afforestation Program (BTAP) on the livelihood of local household in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province (KPK). BTAP is the largest ban-logging afforestation program in Pakistan, which aims to conserve natural forests, promoting rural livelihoods and reducing poverty. Primary data from 360 local inhabitants were collected and analyzed using descriptive and econometric methodologies that include ordered logit model and ordinary least squares (OLS) respectively. In specific, a wealth index, household income, and five assets of sustainable livelihood have been considered to measure the impact of BTAP. We found that there is a strong and positive contribution of BTAP to the improvement of a rural community’s livelihood. Results showed that BTAP based households earn 4% more income and possess around 35% more assets. These findings suggest that BTAP has considerable effect on increase in livelihood assets. This study continues the discussion with several practical implications of this along with recommendations for future research.

Effective production, living, and ecological space allocation is essential for advancing territorial policy optimization and improving the sustainability of land resource use. Based on the theory of the “production-living-ecological” space (PLES), the present study uses the spatial transfer matrix model, the coupling degree model, and ecosystem service value measurement to analyze the changes in the number and structural characteristics of the PLES and the evolution pattern of development in 336 cities in China from 2000 to 2020 and to evaluate the resulting ecological effects. The results are as follows: the living space is growing; the agricultural production space is decreasing; and the ecological space has been decreasing and then increasing. The evolution of the city space structure has five distinct patterns of development. Cities in the southeast with high urbanization rates have shifted from the pure economic expansion development pattern to the coordinated diversified development pattern. In contrast, the cities in the northeast and northwest, where ecological space accounts for an absolute proportion, still prefer the economic expansion development pattern. There is still a struggle between the “impulse of local development” and the “objective of central coordination”. The development patterns of ecological protection and the coordinated diversified development patterns have higher ecological effects among the five development approaches, confirming the effectiveness of the territorial spatial planning policy under the coordinated development objective. Meanwhile, the optimization of future spatial planning policies should consider not only the rational allocation of space but also the quality development of space.

The structural imposed crises of the COVID-19 have halted the system of financial intermediation at large. By this, the energy sector needs huge financing for energy efficiency maximization in the COVID-19 crises. Thus, the current research aims to inquire the role of financial inclusion in filling the energy efficiency financing gaps for the period of COVID-19 outbreak. The governments of many countries are facing fiscal deficits and trying to survive under tight substantial fiscal limitations. So providing a cheap and efficient energy in modern times, under COVID-19 crises, is merely impossible for many economies because the main source of income for energy sector is the energy users, and having inefficient energy for consumption is raising energy poverty at large. Therefore, COVID-19 crises raised a wide energy financing gap in modern times that needs a fix. However, this research is suggesting the system to make financial inclusion structure as effective, to fill the energy financing gap, for post-COVID-19 time, and to develop a viable and sustainable financing option for energy sector in long-run perspective. This study also validated the empirical role of financial inclusion on energy poverty and energy efficiency, with historical data, to justify the significance of financial inclusion for energy financing gap fulfillment. More so, this paper is also recommending new policy implications for the stakeholders to utilize. We believe if the recommended policy recommendations are considered for practice, the energy financing gap in post-COVID-19 era would be mitigated, and there is a high probability to supply the efficient energy to the end users.

To protect forest land from loss and mitigate the global climate crisis, China has proposed a stringent natural forest protection plan, known as China’s natural forest logging ban (NFLB). This policy aims to halt the over-exploitation of natural forests, restore forest ecosystem functions, and promote regional green economic development. This study uses a regression discontinuity design (RDD) model to quantitatively and comprehensively assess the effectiveness of this policy in the key state-owned forest regions in Northeast China. Additionally, it analyzes the heterogeneity and structural characteristics of the policy’s effects on the internal composition of ecological and economic systems. The empirical results are as follows: (1) Ecological and economic impacts: The policy has successfully achieved its ecological objectives by significantly enhancing the quality and value of ecosystem services. However, it has also had a notable adverse impact on economic development, particularly in the timber supply sector, reducing the conversion efficiency of ecosystem service values into economic benefits. (2) Structural analysis: The logging ban effectively promoted the value of various ecosystem services, particularly enhancing regulatory and support functions, with a LATE estimate of approximately 8.47 units. The implementation of the policy caused a negative growth in the output value of supply-oriented ecological products, and the significance level was lower than 0.1. Conversely, the LATE estimates for different types of GDP indicate a negative growth in supply-type GDP due to the policy, with p < 0.1. (3) Heterogeneity: On the one hand, a simplistic and singular approach to logging prohibition may constrain the efficiency of enhancing ecosystem service values. On the other hand, although the policy disrupted the majority of traditional forest enterprise operations, business models focusing on quality and technology improvements were able to mitigate this impact.