Literature Review

This paper analyzes the differences between mutual funds that declare ESG commitment and those that do not. Additionally, we explore their behavior in terms of voting on resolutions related to climate change and the environment. Our analysis reveals that activist funds generally exhibit a behavior that is consistent with their sustainable focus and have a lower proportion of greenwashers, contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions. Importantly, this sustainability orientation does not negatively impact their financial performance, as they attract significant flows and do not show worse performance compared to their traditional counterparts.

Guided by the three-domain framework of sustainable development, sustainability is an essential idea behind the effective public administration, policy-formulation and governance. The ecological domain occurs at an intersection between the social and biological ambits of biosphere and emphases on the vital aspect of human engagement with and within nature.This paper probes into the multidimensional thought of ecological sustainability, covering its concept, principles, as well as the diverse domains linked with realizing it. The objective of this work is to explore how the initiatives of government and non-governmental organizations in Himachal Pradesh represent a step toward a sustainable era. The sustainable initiatives of government and non-government bodies and accomplishments made by them have been exemplified in this paper with respect to land resource management, management of disasters, mineral resources, water resources, biodiversity and wildlife management, farming and allied sectors, environmental pollution, solid waste management and energy sector.The study involved collection of both primary and secondary data. Primary data was collected using a pre-designed questionnaire administered on the respondents by personally visiting the important institutions involved in environmental management. The secondary data was obtained from relevant published or unpublished literature. The data was edited, categorized, tabulated and analysed for making recommendations. In conclusion, this paper encapsulates the key points and accentuates the need for ecological sustainability in a wider sense.

This article examines the intersection of environmental activism and community engagement through a case study of the "Save Our Mangroves" campaign in Mumbai, India. It explores how local communities and environmental activists collaborated to protect the city's vital mangrove ecosystems from the threat of urban development projects. Analyzing the campaign's strategies, successes, and limitations, the article highlights the crucial role of community involvement in amplifying environmental voices and achieving local-level conservation outcomes. By drawing upon theoretical frameworks and empirical data, this study sheds light on the dynamics of environmental activism within marginalized communities, ultimately arguing for a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between activism, advocacy, and social justice in environmental struggles.

The idea of environmental racism has been gradually gaining visibility in the Brazilian environmental agenda after its emergence in the United States. It is present in academic narratives and environmental activism, generally associated with the concept of environmental injustice and based on political ecology, which has been occupying a prominent position in Latin America. We propose to discuss this concept without pretending to be exhaustive, considering its origin, trajectory, uses, controversies, and limits. We make a parallel between the U.S. and Latin America, underlining some common elements but also the differences in terms of posture, especially in the face of colonialism and capitalism. Then our attention is drawn to the Brazilian case, analyzing some peculiarities of the justice-injustice-environmental racism interface. Finally, we underscore the alternative horizons opened by this issue, based on local life models, ontologies, and cosmologies that increasingly find a prominent place on the environmental agenda, notably discussing the issue of human rights, the rights of nature and territories. In this article, the central ideas presented are guided by a critical and decolonial-inspired analysis of environmental issues.

This article examines the political aspects of environmental activism in Kazakhstan. The authors emphasize that environmental problems are becoming increasingly relevant for Kazakh society, especially if political factors contribute to the development of the environmental movement. The article analyzes the relationship between environmental activism and the possibility of dialogue between civil society institutions and state structures in Kazakhstan and also gives examples of the participation of environmental activists from the government and civil society in the implementation of environmental protection projects. The authors also discuss the role of civil society and international organizations in the struggle for environmental protection in Kazakhstan. In conclusion, the authors emphasize that environmental issues should be included in the political dialogue in Kazakhstan to ensure the sustainability and conservation of natural resources for the benefit of future generations of the country.

Environmental activism and the widespread acknowledgment of the impact of pollution from fashion and textile industries have driven an educational sustainability directive that promotes designer, buyer, and consumer awareness. Centered on a long-time approach that encourages cathedral style thinking and the concept of being a good ancestor (Krznaric, 2020), contrasts sharply with current fast fashion practices. Long-time advocates Saltmarshe and Pembroke (2018) state “short termism is rapidly becoming an existential threat to humanity,” while Fletcher (2010) suggests that developing systems’ change for the fashion sector provides an opportunity to promote a slower culture. The co-creation of responses and the promotion of the project, across social media platforms and through physical exhibitions in Leicester, showed that the thought-provoking memorable visual statements created and resonated not only with the student and academic audience but with fashion consumers. First, this chapter sets the environmental and industry contexts, followed by a review of current academic pedagogy and the philosophy of long-time thinking and its influence on education. The paper concludes with an educational case study that argues the value of a long-time thinking as a means of developing both industry professionals and consumer awareness of the environmental challenges posed by current fashion and textile industry practices.

Environmental Identity and Biospheric values are both considered to be antecedents of Environmental Activism. Although various authors have suggested a relationship between Biospheric Values and Environmental Identity, this relationship has rarely been empirically studied. Moreover, the role of affect domain in influencing Environmental Activism has received less attention. This paper is aimed at shedding light on the relationship between Biospheric Values, Connectedness to Nature, and Environmental Identity, as well as studying how both are related to Environmental Activism. It was hypothesized that Environmental Identity mediates the relationship between both Biospheric Values and Connectedness to Nature, and Environmental Activism. A sample of 168 Italian young adults completed an online survey designed to gather information about the variables under study. The results provided support to the hypothesis that Biospheric Values and Connectedness to Nature are related to Environmental Identity, and that their relationship with Environmental Activism is fully mediated by Environmental Identity. In light of the existing literature, the results of this study will be discussed.

Rakina bara is a lake about 20 km from the center of Belgrade (Serbia). It represents an exceptional phenomenon as the only natural karst lake on the territory of the city. Until 2019, it was left to decay and the natural processes of the pound areas decline. Since 2019, the local community has started to deal with its revitalization and improvement. The citizens' association that launched the action, in 2022 received the highest recognition of the city of Belgrade for its undertaking, and the residents of the suburb where Rakina Bara is located, received a lake that represents a specific biodiversity niche within the urban environment. The initiative represents a DIY principle of action, and its success owes to a specific set of circumstances defined by the COVID-19 virus pandemic. The presentation aims to show the cultural and demographic processes that led to the deterioration of the lake, and then it aims to present the initiative of the local community...

This study examines the identity construction of environmental activists in discourse following a political protest in Stockholm, Sweden. More specifically it aims to understand how environmental activists have been subjected to securitisation, and what underlying ideology supports this perception. It follows the poststructuralist assumption that language is not objective nor fixed and is instead vital in producing and reproducing political and social reality. Hence, through qualitative research of political statements, newspaper articles, and debates this study finds that environmental activists have been depicted as operating ‘outside’ of formal politics in dominant discourse. The portrayal of environmental activists as a ‘constitutive outside’ has also worked as a prerequisite for them to be subjected to securitisation – viewed as posing fundamental threats to hegemonic ideas of what constitutes legitimate protest. Often this notion is guided by deliberative democracy as the rational way of politics. These findings were emphasised using signifying chains to comprehend how environmental activists are seen as ‘deviant’ in dominant discourse. Along with this, neoliberal ideology seems a vital component in the creation of what constitute legitimate political activity.

Climate change is having increasing impacts on the social, economic and political space across the African continent. The compounding character of such impacts reinforces existing inequalities, raising important considerations around climate justice. Growing awareness has seen the emergence of activists working for solutions and promoting alternative futures, working across scales and sectors to address the complexity of the threats. This article examines environmental activism in Nigeria and South Africa, exploring strategies and claims, and how these are rooted in questions of justice. While environmental movements in Nigeria have generally worked to encourage reform and adaption within the existing political economic system, a more systemic critique and need for fundamental change is observable in South Africa. Drawing on a comparison of Extinction Rebellion in both countries, we argue that understandings of just transitions should take into consideration the unequal abilities of social movements to call for radically transformative and just decarbonisation.

[...]the same year Stone published Trees, the Supreme Court in Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727 (1972), held that nature does not have standing under the Administrative Procedure Act, signaling a reluctance of federal courts to support this form of legal rights and personhood for nature, despite Trees' notable citation in the dissent. The Ho-Chunk Nations General Council has also approved an amendment to their tribal constitution that would establish that "[ejcosystems, natural communities, and species within the Ho-Chunk Nation territory possess inherent, fundamental, and inalienable rights to naturally exist, flourish, regenerate, and evolve," Ho-Chunk Nation Res. 09-15-18C, Proposed Resolution to Amend the Constitution of the Ho-Chunk Nation (2018), but further legal action is required for formal adoption into the Nations Constitution. Since 2006, local municipalities have also enacted rights of nature laws that bestow legal personhood on a number of landscapes, rivers, and animals. Similar to City of Toledo, the court found that the municipal government did not have the power to enact its rights of nature law because Florida's Clean Waterways Act explicitly preempted local rights of nature laws. While laws acknowledging environmental personhood have faced numerous court challenges in the United States, often focusing on the interplay of the powers of federal, tribal, state, and local governments, rights of nature laws have continued to blossom globally in the past 15 years with the advocacy and influence of Indigenous communities.

Social psychological research on environmental collective action often overlooks the facilitating or hindering impact of a country's context. Governments' institutional attitudes toward environmental issues may have crucial roles in mobilizing environmental activism. To explore how individual and contextual factors interplay for engagement in environmental collective action, we conducted multilevel modelling using data from 12 countries (n = 18,746). While environmental collective action was predicted by higher environmental concern and higher environmental efficacy beliefs, the strength of these relationships was moderated by macro-level contextual variables related to political governance. In countries with more effective environmental policies, the impact of both environmental concern and environmental efficacy beliefs on collective action were much stronger than in the countries with inadequate environmental governance. Moreover, our findings show that environmental concern is less likely to translate into environmental collective action in repressive countries. Findings are discussed within perspectives on community resilience, identity, empowerment, and repression.