Circular economy is a tool based on the inclusion of environmental, social, and governance performance (ESG) in decision-making to achieve sustainable development goals (SDG). In recent years, it has become clear that business-as-usual has nothing to do with sustainability, and alternative business models, primarily on technological grounds, must be implemented to mitigate the damage caused by significant and unpredictable effects of climate change. The current situation requires unprecedented and urgent changes to policies and business development models. The current research aimed to target on industrial symbiosis as one of the business models of the circular economy. It evaluated the benefits of symbiosis and the fostering of cooperation between industries and, consequently, has a major impact on resource efficiency ratios. The research is based on quantitative and qualitative research methods, including a literature review, assessment, and application of the triangulation method. As a result of this research, the authors realized a matrix for the development of regional or cross-country industrial symbiosis that can be used by policymakers to foster the development of symbiotic interconnections on a wide scale. The authors also recommend the development of the Baltic University Program (BUP) network center of excellence and methodological justification for industries to engage in industrial symbiosis (IS).

The world is facing several challenges, and the problem of sustainable development is one of the most important. It is worth considering that European countries are playing a significant role as pioneers in building a sustainable world, such as those promises made by signing the Paris Agreement and European Taxonomy. To achieve ambitious targets within sustainable development, a huge amount of capital is necessary, while financial and capital market participants are expected to demonstrate a high level of engagement in the domain of sustainability. Facing growing interest and demand, a relatively new product—the ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investment fund—was introduced. Scientific literature is providing some controversial views regarding the overall evaluation of this product. Therefore, additional research providing different angles would contribute to a better understanding. This study examines European ESG funds in the energy sector, from the perspective of news flows and investors. It is worth noting that the authors use the word “European” to refer to members of the European Union (EU). The paper consists of the following parts. In the introduction, the current state of this issue is discussed. The following section offers a literature review and a news flow analysis that contributes to a deeper understanding of these issues. A description of the methodology applied for the data analysis follows this, and the final section presents the research results and conclusions. The authors apply statistical analysis and the Carhart model to determine the differences in the performance of the ESG and conventional funds and use their own tool for text analysis to examine the relevance of the topic of ESG to attract client interest. The authors claim that the performance of the European ESG equity funds do not show a statistically significant difference from the non-ESG equity funds in the majority of the periods examined. The application of the adjusted Carhart model demonstrates that the factor of sustainability has a non-significant and negative effect on the fund performance. Finally, the authors highlight the urgent necessity for the unified usage of keywords and terminology, such as “ESG”, “sustainability”, etc., to ensure comparison and attribution possibilities.

Introduction. Social and hostility conflicts in Ukraine have caused global changes and deterioration of the ecological and economic situation in numerous countries, resulting in higher risks to the population and giving the impetus to create a new innovative, cultural, and technological society. Greening principles, which have become popular in developed countries, are impossible to implement without the coordinated cooperation of states and their genesis in accordance with joint programs and development vectors. As a result, an increasing number of foundations and grants have recently been established to support eco-friendly products and solutions, assist in their adoption, and develop the organizational structure of an efficient system based on green economy principles, thereby improving global standards and regulations. Aim and tasks. The aim of the study is to develop a methodology for planning the modernization of constructed infrastructure, better resource efficiency, and reduce waste in the reconstruction of war-destroyed objects. Results. The best option for post-war waste disposal is the construction of mobile waste recycling complexes based on fractional waste recycling and its secondary use in further reconstruction of Ukrainian infrastructure, which after final restoration will be moved to safe areas around large cities and used as stationary waste recycling plants. To improve the environmental situation, one suggests building landscaped parks that will operate due to state-of-the-art technologies (obtaining natural energy, etc.) and creating a system of harmonious combination of anthropogenic infrastructure and natural areas, businesses, and public accessibility. Conclusions. The key goal of the reconstruction of Ukrainian territories is to establish an innovative, sustainable, and safe system of social existence by increasing the efficiency of actions and methods based on the principles of rational environmental management and increasing responsibility. When calculating the cost of the restoration of Ukrainian territories, one should take into account additional expenses caused by hostilities, which will be further considered as a stress factor having a cumulative negative impact and leading to disastrous consequences that can be estimated in monetary equivalent as the sum of the price of restoration of components of the ecological, economic, and social system under the effect of a set of factors resulting in negative changes and damages.