Dear Colleagues,

Climate change has emerged as one of our generation's greatest challenges. Supporting economic activity and the reduction of carbon emissions, energy transition plays a crucial role in sustainable development. The energy transition to tackle climate change has occupied a significant position on the agenda of world policymakers for a considerable amount of time. However, as the economy has recovered from the shock induced by COVID-19, carbon emissions have increased substantially. Numerous studies on energy transition pathways and policies at various levels and areas have been presented based on various economic, social, and technological variables. Due to the lack of consensus on these studies, however, it is difficult for policymakers to determine the best course of action from a variety of pathways and policies, especially when some of them are contradictory. Nonetheless, these disparities or conflicts can be managed and justified through the use of alternative hypotheses or the modeling of significant components.

Moreover, there are many mechanisms mediating the substantial connections between energy transition and sustainable development. The imbalance and lack of coordination between resources and environmental challenges are being caused by the rapid growth of both the economy and urbanization. Policymakers, governments, and regulatory agencies are devoting a growing amount of attention to the question of how to achieve economic and sustainable growth through the efficient use of energy transition.

Therefore, it is timely to explore the connection between energy transition and sustainable development, as well as the channels that facilitate this connection. This Special Issue invites economic and policy-oriented papers to examine present concerns with regard to energy transition and sustainable development. We also seek articles that investigate how technical advances, adjustments, and diffusions can aid in avoiding the challenges presented by energy transition and sustainable development. The Special Issue will not have a specific geographical focus; rather, it will showcase a variety of regional approaches to a low-carbon future, taking into account their unique conditions, opportunities, and problems. Possible subjects include (but are not limited to) the following:

• The explicit relationship between energy transition and sustainable development.
• The feasibility of policies to implement energy transition.
• The positive and negative health impacts of energy transition.
• Blockchain and sustainable development.
• Are technological innovations playing a leading role in energy transition?
• The sustainable development of economies.
• ESG and investor behaviors.
• Climate policy and insights into sustainable development.
• Energy transition and financial changes.
• Energy transition in the post-COVID-19 era.
• The role of energy transition in terms of financial risks.
• The risks of the wider socioeconomic effects of unemployment and under-employment resulting from energy transition.

Dr. Yi-Shuai Ren
Prof. Dr. Zhao Liu
Prof. Dr. Olaf Weber
Dr. Yong Jiang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• energy transition
• sustainable development
• climate change
• climate policy
• energy inequality
• energy poverty
• green finance
• ESG
• technological innovation
• blockchain
• health