A systematic review of emerging environmental markets: Potential pathways to creating shared value for communities

The emerging environmental markets have been adopted by various sectors and industries worldwide, with regulations being implemented to make it compulsory to protect against environmental degradation through emission reduction. Thus, understanding the framework of environmental markets and their implications in mitigating climate change and addressing challenges is crucial. Following the updated PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review was conducted to provide important insights into environmental labels and their values in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Their potential for investments in emerging business opportunities was also explored. The literature search was limited to the past 20 years and focused on peer-reviewed journal articles in the agricultural sector, using databases such as CAB Abstract, Business Sources Ultimate, Scopus, and ProQuest between March and May 2022. It is worth noting that this study did not use other popular databases (e.g. Web of Science), which might result in the omission of some relevant studies in the environmental market domain, potentially introducing some imprecisions to the findings. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 51 articles were finally selected for the study. Thematic content analysis was conducted using Nvivo software, and the results were synthesized and presented in different themes. The findings indicate that carbon, environmental, and eco-labels are among the seven identified labels, wherein environmental and carbon markets, among the four identified markets, were found in new emerging and popular markets in most countries. There has been substantial growth in the value of environmental goods and services due to increasing demand from different stakeholders seeking environmental protection, as mandated by regulations. Overall, consumers have a positive response to the willingness to pay (WTP) premium prices, particularly for environmentally friendly labels and products (eco-label and environmental labels) than conventional ones (carbon and organic labels). Further, there is huge potential for investments in the newly emerging environmental markets, e.g., the carbon market through carbon/greenhouse gas emission reduction and carbon offset/credit market by soil carbon sequestration and carbon neutral products. This study contributes to the understanding of the market structure, the main drivers influencing new environmental markets, its advantages, and co-benefits for the various stakeholders in the value chain. Overall, the adoption of environmental strategies and practices can contribute to the socio-economic and environmental benefits, as well as lead to environment-friendly sustainable production.