环境科学与生态学最新文献

{"title":"Does the new European Union air quality directive really protect health? A nationwide case study in Spain","authors":"C. Linares,&nbsp;J. Díaz,&nbsp;M.A. Navas,&nbsp;J.A. López-Bueno","doi":"10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.179002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In October 2024, the European Union (EU) issued a Directive establishing a series of limit values, which, once transposed into national law by EU Member States, will become mandatory. This Directive is less restrictive than the WHO guideline values published in 2021.</div><div>Using dose-response functions specifically calculated for every Spanish province, this study sought to ascertain how many short-term, all-cause hospital emergency admissions (ICD-9: 1-799 and ICD-10: A00-R99) were attributable to NO₂, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations across the period 2013-2018, and what the ensuing reduction in admissions would be, if the EU Directive and WHO guideline values were applied respectively.</div><div>The results obtained indicate that here in Spain some 38,790 admissions per year are attributable to NO₂, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 pollution, at a total cost of €548 million. These admissions would be reduced by 478 (1.23 %) if the EU Directive were observed, and by 4496 (11.59 %) if the WHO guideline values were met.</div><div>While compliance with the EU limit values would have almost no effect in terms of a decrease in attributable admissions, such an effect would indeed be seen in the event of compliance with the WHO guideline values and would entail a saving of over €63 million nationwide. This study only focused on short-term effects of PM and NO₂.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":422,"journal":{"name":"Science of the Total Environment","volume":"970 ","pages":"Article 179002"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143529476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inclusive climate or innovative climate? The mechanism of green transformational leadership motivating green mindfulness","authors":"Liping Fu ,&nbsp;Jianrong Tang ,&nbsp;Huan Zhou ,&nbsp;Guoqiang Zeng","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124750","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124750","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mindfulness from employees to greener work status is crucial for cooperates' green transformation. Green transformational leadership (GTL) is a driving factor persuading individual-level green behaviours. However, scholars have rarely focused on Green Mindfulness (GM) and lacked attention to the different organizational climates. Our study explores the impact of GTL on employees' green mindfulness, innovatively considering the mediation of Inclusive Psychological Climate (IPC) and Innovative Organizational Climate (IOC). By a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed data from 661 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in China's tourism and hospitality industry, employing validated scales and structural equation modelling (SEM). Results show that green transformational leadership significantly enhances green mindfulness, with the inclusive psychological climate positively reinforcing this relationship while the innovative organizational climate exhibits a mitigating effect. This highlights the importance of fostering an inclusive psychological climate to promote green mindfulness, balancing innovation without detracting from green focus. Managerially, our findings recommend establishing clear green visions, encouraging low-carbon behaviours, providing training for effective green practices, and creating an inclusive culture that values diverse perspectives. Moreover, balancing innovation and stability is crucial for maintaining employees' green mindfulness. Future research should broaden the sample scope, incorporate multiple data sources, and employ longitudinal designs to enhance reliability and validity. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into sustainable management practices and enhances our understanding of how green transformational leadership can foster green mindfulness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 124750"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Treatment of fine and medium fractions of MSWI bottom ash for use in concrete: A German case study","authors":"Iveta Vateva ,&nbsp;Marcel Laabs ,&nbsp;Bernhard Middendorf ,&nbsp;David Laner","doi":"10.1016/j.wasman.2025.02.050","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wasman.2025.02.050","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Incineration bottom ash (IBA) is the main solid residue from municipal solid waste incineration. IBA mostly contains minerals that can be used as secondary construction materials in unbound applications as well as concrete after appropriate treatment. Major challenges, in particular for its utilization in concrete, are residual metal contents, soluble salts, as well as the high porosity of the material. The goal of this study was to investigate the processing of the fine (0–2 mm) and medium (2–8 mm) IBA fractions with respect to their utilization as a partial substitute for binder and aggregates in concrete. Therefore, the IBA was treated in a two-stage process and the material fractions produced were utilized as secondary aggregates and partial cement replacement in concrete paving stones. The processing led to a reduction in residual metal concentrations, e.g. the metallic aluminum was reduced by 67 % and 60 % in the processed fine and medium fractions, respectively. Soluble metals and salts could be reduced to some extent, but remaining salts (up to 1800 mg/l and 2300 mg/l for chloride and sulfate, respectively) hinder the use of the IBA in reinforced concrete. The results demonstrate that IBA has promising potential for use in concrete paving stones, but further optimization is needed to meet requirements such as tensile splitting strength and weathering resistance (the tensile splitting strength was approx. 20 % lower and the frost resistance was about 4 times higher). Overall, partial replacement of binder and aggregates can effectively contribute to reducing the environmental footprint of concrete products.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23969,"journal":{"name":"Waste management","volume":"198 ","pages":"Pages 117-127"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143529496","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ecological suitability distribution of hop based on MaxEnt modeling","authors":"Jingyue Zhang,&nbsp;Qian Wang,&nbsp;Huijuan Gao,&nbsp;Qiangli Qi,&nbsp;Wenjing He,&nbsp;Jianyin Li,&nbsp;Shixia Yao,&nbsp;Wen Li","doi":"10.1007/s10661-025-13787-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10661-025-13787-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Hop has been widely utilized in both food production and traditional medicine owing to their distinctive flavor and various pharmacological effects. In recent years, the increasing demand for hop has led to their cultivation in many regions across China. However, hops require specific ecological conditions, including climate, soil, precipitation, and temperature, which significantly affect their distribution and growth. To facilitate the standardization and scientific cultivation of hops, it is essential to clarify the distribution of their ecological suitability. In this study, we collected data from 95 hops distribution locations and 115 ecological factors to determine the areas suitable for hops cultivation using the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model and Geographic Information System (GIS). The highly suitable areas are primarily located in the northwestern part of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the eastern part of Gansu Province, Shaanxi Province, the southwestern part of Shanxi Province, and parts of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province. These findings provide valuable guidance for the scientific cultivation of hops, ensuring the efficient use of ecological resources and promoting sustainable cultivation practices.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":544,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Monitoring and Assessment","volume":"197 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143530020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temperature-dependent responses to light and nutrients in phytoplankton","authors":"Anna Lena Heinrichs,&nbsp;Anika Happe,&nbsp;Apostolos-Manuel Koussoroplis,&nbsp;Helmut Hillebrand,&nbsp;Julian Merder,&nbsp;Maren Striebel","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70027","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Nutrients and light are major resources controlling growth, biomass, and community structure of phytoplankton. When looking at those resources individually, resource uptake and biochemical transformation, and thereby also the demand for resources, have been shown to be temperature-dependent. However, there is still a lack of understanding of how temperature controls the response to multiple resources, although simultaneous limitation by multiple resources is common for single species and whole communities. We conducted a multifactorial, gradient-design experiment growing four freshwater phytoplankton species under 125 combinations of temperature, light, and nutrients (5 × 5 × 5 levels). In three of four species, we found evidence for an interactive effect of light and nutrients on growth that was modulated by temperature. The effect of high-level supply of both resources on algal growth rate generally exceeded the sum of their individual effects. Conversely, the lowest growth rates occurred not necessarily at the lowest level of both resources but at the most extreme light:nutrient supply ratios (either only light or nutrients were at highest supply level but the other resource remained at low supply). These interactive light-nutrient effects were modulated by temperature, resulting in highest growth rates when both resources and temperature were highest. Our study demonstrates that temperature modulates the magnitude of the interactive light-nutrient effect on phytoplankton growth. Consequently, these findings highlight the importance of considering temperature to understand the limitation by multiple resources and show that growth responses would be over- or underestimated when these interactions are not taken into account. Our results provide a first indication that the resource-dependent growth of phytoplankton will change in a warming world when considering multiple resources.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70027","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143530068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Conservation of the Atlantic Forest trees through Indigenous sustainability","authors":"Francys Alves Paulino,&nbsp;Orivaldo Nunes Júnior,&nbsp;João Carlos Ferreira de Melo Júnior","doi":"10.1002/fee.2839","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2839","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;The Atlantic Forest harbors one of the most diverse and threatened tropical forest biotas worldwide. Recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot, the biome extends along Brazil's Atlantic coast and into eastern Paraguay and northeastern Argentina, spanning a wide range of latitudinal, longitudinal, altitudinal, and climatic gradients. Its flora includes taxa from the Amazon Rainforest, Cerrado gallery forests, and the Andean region, encompassing approximately 25,000 species of vascular plants, 48% of which are endemic and 3400 of which are trees (Oliveira-Filho and Fontes &lt;span&gt;2000&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The degradation of the Atlantic Forest reflects centuries of human expansion triggered by the arrival of European colonizers in the 16th century CE. Over time, economic cycles, such as those associated with brazilwood, sugarcane, gold, and coffee, as well as urbanization, ranching, and railway/road construction, have severely impacted the forest (Dean &lt;span&gt;2013&lt;/span&gt;). Today, much of the Atlantic Forest consists of patches of secondary forests at varying stages of recovery, monoculture plantations of non-native trees, and small forest fragments surrounded by open areas dominated by anthropogenic landscapes (Tabarelli &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;. &lt;span&gt;2010&lt;/span&gt;). An estimated ~120 million people (70% of Brazil's population) live along Brazil's Atlantic coast, exacerbating pressure on the remaining forest, which currently covers only 12% of its original extent (SOS Mata Atlântica &lt;span&gt;2023&lt;/span&gt;). In this context, urban expansion, industrialization, intensive agriculture, and mining not only accelerate deforestation and biodiversity loss but also erode the ancestral knowledge and cultures of Indigenous peoples who have inhabited these lands for millennia.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Currently, Brazil is home to 305 Indigenous peoples who speak 274 different languages. These groups inhabit territories composed of forests and other associated non-forest systems. The differences exhibited by these communities reflect their sociocultural variety, arising from distinct logics, conceptions, and practices specific to each people and shaped by various historical, social, and environmental contexts (Cunha &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;. &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Among the Indigenous peoples coexisting within the Atlantic Forest are the Guarani (Guarani Mbya), Kaingang, Pataxó, Tupinambá, and Tupiniquim. For these groups, nature and biodiversity not only are deeply connected with beliefs, knowledge, history, and culture but also depend on management techniques to better ensure their persistence over time. Embedded within multiple dimensions—social, cultural, political, economic, environmental, philosophical, and spiritual—traditional Indigenous knowledge fosters a sustainable way of relating to nature, land, and biodiversity, contributing to landscape and biodiversity conservation (Cunha &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;. &lt;span&gt;2022&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Indigenous cultural practices are expressed through a diversity of songs, dances, c","PeriodicalId":171,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment","volume":"23 2","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/fee.2839","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143530519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unraveling individual and combined toxicity of microplastics and tetracycline at environment-related concentrations to coral holobionts","authors":"Shiqi Jiang, Lei He, Linglong Cao, Ruikun Sun, Zhenqing Dai, Yan-Qiu Liang, Lei Ren, Shengli Sun, Chengyong Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.137823","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2025.137823","url":null,"abstract":"Coral holobionts constitute the foundational organisms of coral reef ecosystems. As an emerging pollutant, the projected accumulated levels of microplastics (MPs) are expected to continue increasing. Meanwhile, due to their properties, MPs can absorb multiple other marine pollutants, such as antibiotics (ATs). However, the co-toxicity mechanism of MPs and ATs to coral holobionts remains to be explored. Here, using <em>Zoanthus sociatus</em> as a model organism, we investigate the individual and combined toxicity of MPs and tetracycline (TC) at environment-related concentrations to coral holobionts. Microbiomics indicate that MPs and TC increase coral holobionts bacterial species richness while concurrently reducing the microbial community structure stability. The key metabolites and enzyme activity results demonstrated that the impacts of MPs and TC on corals encompassed antioxidant capacity, detoxification capability, immune function, and lipid metabolism. Transcriptomics shows that MPs and TC disrupt coral-algae relationships mainly through host nutrition limitation and inhibition of symbiotic algae carbon/nitrogen metabolism, respectively. A synergistic effect between MPs and TC has also been observed. In contrast, coral holobionts have shown adaptability through activating coral-symbiodiniaceae-bacteria interactions, mainly including: 1) enhancing the abundance of BMCs (beneficial microorganisms for corals); 2) enhancing host lipid accumulation; 3) immunoregulation; 4) symbiotic regulation. Overall, our findings provide new insights into the co-toxicity of MPs and TC, and highlight those MPs and TC at current environment concentration and predicted for most oceans in the coming decades, can ultimately cause coral bleaching.","PeriodicalId":361,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Hazardous Materials","volume":"34 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":13.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143532364","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate shapes the spatial pattern in local β-diversity of alpine grasslands on the Tibetan Plateau","authors":"Litong Chen ,&nbsp;David A. Coomes ,&nbsp;Jiuluan Wang ,&nbsp;Xin Jing ,&nbsp;Jin-Sheng He","doi":"10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178977","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178977","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Little is known about the structure of plant communities across the vast Tibetan Plateau, which supports at least 12,000 species of alpine vascular plants including over 2000 endemics. We recorded species abundance in 485 sites stretching across 6000 km of the plateau. At each site, species abundance was measured in three quadrats that were 40 m apart, allowing us to quantify local β-diversity within the site. We found that local β-diversity in alpine meadows and steppes was significantly higher than expected by chance, indicating intraspecific aggregation within the sites. After controlling for random sampling effects, the magnitude of local β-diversity varied across the plateau: there was a positive relationship from west to east corresponding to increased rainfall; there were hump-shaped relationships with elevation and latitude. These patterns were driven mainly by regional variation in climate, but also by local soil properties and grazing regimes (our structural equation models (SEMs) explained 27 % and 26 % of variation in alpine meadows and steppes, respectively). Unexpectedly, precipitation-related variables were the strongest predictors in cold-wet alpine meadows while temperature-related variables were the strongest predictors in dry-warm alpine steppes. Our findings support the hypothesis that environmental filtering is largely responsible for local β-diversity of alpine grasslands across the Tibetan Plateau. We discuss how these findings inform efforts to conserve fragile alpine ecosystems threatened by rapid climate warming and overgrazing.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":422,"journal":{"name":"Science of the Total Environment","volume":"970 ","pages":"Article 178977"},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143529790","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Uptake of plasmid reduces the adaptation of Shigella flexneri to disinfectants and increases transmission of antibiotic resistance genes","authors":"Xiaojun Lin ,&nbsp;Ruiqi Han ,&nbsp;Huishi Peng ,&nbsp;Junwei Huang ,&nbsp;Yanbin Xu ,&nbsp;Qingxia Qiao ,&nbsp;Lu Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.ibiod.2025.106050","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ibiod.2025.106050","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Antibiotic-resistance pathogens pose an increasing threat to humanity. But, whether pathogens can increase their resistance to disinfectants with their antibiotic resistances increasing owing to conjugation. In this study, <em>Shigella flexneri</em> (<em>S. flexneri</em>) was selected as the representative pathogenic recipient. Under the stress treatments of glutaraldehyde solution (GS), didecyldimethylammonium bromide solution (DS), and a combination of these two, the horizontal transfer of RP4 plasmid to <em>S. flexneri</em> resulted in reduced adaptation to these treatments. The abundance of sulfanilamide resistance genes (SRGs), disinfectant resistance genes (DRGs) and <em>intI</em>1 in <em>S. flexneri</em> transconjugant increased by 30.0%–322%, 18.3%–119% and 28.2%–136%, respectively. <em>intI</em>1 may be integrated into the plasmid, leading to an increase of higher gene abundance and significant positive correlations with <em>tetM</em>, <em>tetO</em>, <em>sul</em>1, <em>sul</em>2, <em>qacE</em>, <em>qacΔE1</em>, <em>tetA</em>, <em>tnpR</em> and <em>aphA</em> in transconjugant (<em>p</em> ≤ 0.05). A modest reduction in the conjugation frequency protected the bacteria from the transition invasion of GDS disinfectants and promoted the stable presence of RP4 plasmids in <em>S. flexneri</em>. Specifically, at the concentration of 0.1 mg/L, GDS facilitated plasmid transfer and then promoted the proliferation of <em>intI</em>1 by increasing cell membrane permeability, cellular viability and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) content in surviving bacteria, resulting in an increased abundance of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and DRGs in transconjugant. Therefore, resistant plasmid effectively improves the response ability of pathogenic bacteria to disinfectants, so that bacterium have the potential to develop multiple antibiotics resistance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":13643,"journal":{"name":"International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 106050"},"PeriodicalIF":4.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143529481","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Simony as strategy? The role of political contributions in managing ESG engagement","authors":"R. Carè ,&nbsp;M. Cerciello ,&nbsp;R. Fatima ,&nbsp;S. Taddeo","doi":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124753","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.124753","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines the relationship between political contributions and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) measures in US firms. Using data from LSEG Workspace (2010–2023), we implement GMM-SYS estimation to analyze the impact of corporate political donations on ESG metrics. Our results show that political contributions increase the ESG Score (through the E and G pillars) but also cause more ESG controversies for the firm. This suggests that firms may resort to political donations to obtain artificially high ESG Scores, which however do not translate into fewer ESG controversies. This work makes three key contributions. First, it bridges a gap in the literature by empirically examining the interplay between political donations and ESG performance across the three ESG pillars. Second, it highlights the dual role of political contributions: enhancing ESG scores while exacerbating ESG controversies, thus raising concerns about greenwashing practices. Lastly, our findings emphasize the importance of strengthening regulatory oversight to ensure that political activities do not undermine corporate sustainability goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":356,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Environmental Management","volume":"378 ","pages":"Article 124753"},"PeriodicalIF":8.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}