Corporate social responsibility is the foremost business strategy focus for the managers who aim to have long-term success in competitive environment. This is because, different scholars have found it difficult with its definition, explanation, application, and measurement in organizations on who and how it should be done reciprocally. The present study seeks to review societal change with contribution from corporate social responsibility in international financial markets of Africa. The study is qualitative in nature and seeks to analyze the maximum practice of CSR activities and where there is room for improvement in CSR initiatives among African firms. There are three important forms of corporate social responsibility which are aligned to the emerging social needs of community for true fulfillment and addressing the social responsibility at corporate level.

How to ensure energy supply and reduce environment pollution have turned into governments’ top priorities and key factors to maintain sustainable development. In this context, two major trade and investment agreements that could lead to profound influence on low-carbon energy systems development around the Asia-Pacific region are the Regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) consisted of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plus Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and Republic of Korea and the Belt and road initiative (BRI) initiated by China. In order to have a smooth transition to low-carbon energy systems in Asia, besides RCEP and BRI it is imperative to boost private sector investment. Success of encouraging private sector investment depends on appropriate government policies towards promoting innovations and reducing financial risks to private investors. The research questions that are examined in this study are: What type of policy measures affects trade in low-carbon transition, particularly renewable energy (RE) transition? How can investment signals and incentives be reframed to scale up private finance in RE? The objective is to investigate and to provide several feasible trade policy and investment policy tools for both national and regional markets that governments could adopt to accelerate the speed of private financing of the low-carbon energy industry, particularly the RE industry.

Dynamic changes of sustainable ecosystem in China have been assessed with long-term series from 1949 to 2006, and the ecosystem sustainability of 30 provinces in 1986, 1996, 2002 and 2006 are analyzed with ecological footprint index (EFI) and ecological footprint efficiency (EFE). The two indices are proposed based on ecological footprint (EF) method. Then, the fluctuant cycles of per capita EF and bicapacity (BC) in China 1949-2006 are decomposed and extracted based on EMD method, and series nonlinear dynamic predictive models are presented with the cycles. Three Forecasting scenarios are analyzed based on their predictive models according to three EF scenarios presented in Living Planet Report 2006 published by WWF et al. (2006). Over last 57 years, China’s EFI has reduced sharply with fluctuation. The change of EFE is very slowly before 1980, subsequently, is sharply increased. There are 6, 5, 12, and 7 provinces which are running ecological surplus in 1986, 1996, 2002, and 2006, respectively. There are 14, 16, 11, and 16 provinces which EFI are smaller than -100% in 1986, 1996, 2002, and 2006, respectively. The provinces with the highest EFE are Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin, and the lowest are Xinjiang, Guizhou, Hainan, Ningxia, et al. in 1986, 1996, 2002, and 2006, respectively. The obvious undulation cycles of per capita EF in China are 4.8 years and 10.9 years, and the periods of per capita BC are 3.03 years, 8.35 years, 14.25 years, and 28.15 years. The business-as-usual scenario looks at the consequence that per capita ED would be 11.200 hm² and EFI would be -1307.19% in China in 2050. The slow-shift scenario shows per capita ED would be 0.728 hm² and EFI would be -84.96% in 2050. The rapid-reduce scenario shows per capita ED in China would be 0.498 hm² in 2050 and 0.261 hm² in 2100, respectively. EFI of rapid-reduce scenario would be -58.11% in 2050. China could denote sustainability at the global level if slow-shift scenario and rapid-reduce scenario are implemented.

The spatial and temporal structuring and functioning of living systems are associated with scaling independent qualitative characteristics (gauge invariance) and quantitative laws (power laws). This is allowed by the emergence of new blueprints through the systems merging into ‘Associations for the Reciprocal and Mutual Sharing of Advantages and Dis-Advantages’ (ARMSADA). The local actors become more and more mutually integrated into their new global Whole. Then they are more and more independent from their previous local situations of emergence. Reversely (systemic constructal law), the global Whole is more and more integrating local parceners. The relationship between actors within a living system was described using allometric laws, e.g. the metabolic rate of a lot of species was supposed to be proportional to its mass according to a 3/4 exponent power-law (Kleiber’s law). But, according to the gauge invariance paradigm, an other explanation of the invariant scaling of living systems is proposed with a 2/3 power-law. Whatever its level of organization, a living system, ‘system of systems’ emerging by embedments and juxtapositions of previous ones, effectively functions in 4 dimensions (VA: the Adult system Volume, and tg: the time of generation, the duration that is necessary to acquire the capacity of reproduction). Looking at the gauge invariance paradigm as a ‘factual’ system, from the quantum of Planck to the Universe as a Whole, a meta-analysis of a database of the systems internal (endophysiotope) and external (ecoexotope) interactions can allow to quantify 45×18 allometric relationships. This allows to evidence a ‘grammar’: 1. Invariant independent processes (power-laws with exponent € = 0); 2. Simultaneous limiting interactions regulation processes (€ = +1); 3:F eedback (€ = -1); 4. Competition between actors (€ = 1/2); 5. Optimal exchanges flow (€ = 2/3) processes. Brownian motion is the basic fundamental process that governs all functions. From the Monera to the ecosystem levels the increasing of regulation processes allows more and more autonomy of the endophysiotope from the ecoexotope dependence. From the point of view of matter and energy flows, living systems optimize the input and output exchanges at their interface. The greater diversity of regulation processes occurs for the endophysiotope throughput flows. Whatever the organization level, living systems optimize their survival by adjusting ‘the capacity to be hosted’ of their endophysiotope (HOSTED) to the changes of ‘the hosting capacity’ of their ecoexotope (HOSTING).

Preterm birth and associated conditions are one of the biggest killers of children in the worldwide. In this regards, current study aimed at investigation of the relationship between air pollutants of Pm₁₀, CO, O₃, and SO₂ and preterm birth occurrences recorded in Imam Reza (PUH) Hospital of Mashhad for a five-year period from 2007 to 2011. The results of quantile regression showed that the amount of atmospheric pollutants have an important role in rising preterm births. In this way, the pollutants of Pm₁₀ and CO have revealed the strongest effect on preterm birth occurrences especially for the last three months of pregnancy. Moreover, preterm births mostly have occurred in warm seasons of spring and summer, while the seasonal average of pollutants concentration, excepting O₃ pollutant, has shown rising in cold seasons of autumn and winter. However, reducing air pollution could also be effective in reducing preterm births across the world.

Thorium (Th) is three to four times more abundant than Uranium (U) in nature and distributed evenly in most developing countries in the World. Th can be mined with relatively cheap and environment friendly mining methods from high grade alluvial deposits. Th extraction is relatively straightforward and inexpensive.  Th has better radiation stability and longer fuel cycle. Th has a higher energy density and fuel economy in the reactors. One ton of mined Th produces as much energy as 200 tons of mined U, or 3.5 million tons of coal. World’s global energy needs for one year can be supplied by approximately burning 6000 tons of Th. Since Th is an abundant and sustainable source of energy for the future, developing countries cannot afford to ignore. Molten salt and accelerator driven reactors have been developed for Th-fuel. Turkey has the sixth biggest Th resources in the world and must declare Th as part of countries national power policy like China and India.