The COVID-19 outbreak on international cruise ships during the early stages of the pandemic has exposed deficiencies in the governance of public health emergencies within the framework of existing international law. These deficiencies encompass various aspects, including the shortcomings of the system of flag state jurisdiction, the vague definition and reasonableness of governments’ “additional health measures” as stipulated in the International Health Regulations (IHR) of 2005, the role of World Health Organization (WHO) in the protection of the fundamental rights of passengers and crew members during epidemic outbreaks on cruise ships, the application of the free pratique rule under the international health law, and other challenges that have not been adequately addressed in current international law. In the post-COVID era, it is essential to revisit these core issues of international law and reassess the allocation of responsibilities among all evolving actors to foster effective multilateral cooperation in epidemic control. This paper adopts the “Diamond Princess” incident as a case study, examining how such public health emergencies pose challenges to international laws, particularly when they occur within the context of a cruise ship. The paper argues that cooperation on global health emergencies will continue to be a challenge until responsibility is more clearly allocated among stakeholders. Additionally, the paper formulates three principles for enhancing governmental cooperation, namely the fairness principle, the nationality principle, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. It is advisable to carefully consider these key principles when reevaluating the international laws on public health emergencies in the post-COVID era.

The purpose of this research was to explore the link between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance and corporate financial performance in the Pacific Alliance countries (Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile). The study used regression models to examine the correlation between ESG scores, environmental pillar scores, and financial performance metrics like return on assets (ROA) and EBITDA for 86 companies over 2016-2022. Control variables like firm size and leverage were included. Data was obtained from Refinitiv and Bloomberg databases. The regression models showed no significant positive correlations between overall ESG or environmental pillar scores and the financial valuation measures.The inconclusive results on ESG-firm value connections underscore the need for continued research using larger samples, localized models, and exploring which ESG aspects drive financial performance Pacific Alliance.

This study aims to examine whether banks are compliant with adopting sustainability regulations and guidelines, and how they disclose their sustainable finance activities in sustainability reporting by providing case of Indonesian banking. Previous research provided discussions on the role of governance in supporting many variables as quantitative studies, but failed to demonstrate on going practices of how banking industries implement sustainable finance governance. Hence, this study provides originality by analyzing the extend of disclosures in order to evaluate their commitments in responding to sustainability regulations and guidelines, through disclosures of economic, environment, social, and governance (EESG) information in annual and sustainability reports. The samples were undertaken by examining the contents of sustainability and annual reports published for the financial year 2016 to 30 June 2021, for the Indonesian banks listed in business category 4, business category 3, and international banks, with the total of 202 reports. The results indicate that the implementation of sustainable finance in EESG information increases annually with social performances are the highest information disclosed, while the governance and economic information received the lowest level of disclosure. Results of this study will benefit policymakers, banks, and related companies to understand sustainable finance governance, and reveal the importance the role of banking industries to support Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Providing the insights of the ongoing discussions are expected to suggest following actions for further policies to support the implementation of sustainable finance, in particular to establish sustainability governance as a foundation of commitments, beyond complying to regulations.

Regional cooperation stands as a key strategy to address intense economic competition and formidable local governance challenges. Successful regional collaborations are typically founded on the basis of institutional similarity, which also serves as the starting point for a multitude of related theoretical studies. Consequently, the regional cooperation within the context of institutional conflicts has been overlooked. This paper aims to explore the process of regional cooperation against the backdrop of conflicts, using the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as a case study and analyzing it from the perspective of the sociology of knowledge. The article posits that conflicts can stimulate interactions among various actors, foster the generation of local knowledge, and propel specific cooperative practices. Moreover, local and central governments, grounded in local knowledge and universal managerial insights, continuously authenticate and propagate local innovations, establishing guiding policies and, consequently, producing rational knowledge. The accumulation of such knowledge has not only strengthened civilian cooperation but also facilitated broader collaborative efforts. The study reveals that despite the GBA’s remarkable achievements in cooperation, challenges persist: on the one hand, there are issues with the government’s process of rational knowledge production and the quality of knowledge itself; on the other hand, excessive governmental dominance may suppress the production and application of local knowledge. Therefore, refining the knowledge production mechanism is especially critical. The findings of this paper uncover the mechanisms of regional cooperation amidst institutional conflicts and deepen our understanding of regional collaboration and cross-border governance.

While the notion of the smart city has grown in popularity, the backlash against smart urban infrastructure in the context of changing state-public relations has seldom been examined. This article draws on the case of Hong Kong’s smart lampposts to analyse the emergence of networked dissent against smart urban infrastructure during a period of unrest. Deriving insights from critical data studies, dissentworks theory, and relevant work on networked activism, the article illustrates how a smart urban infrastructure was turned into both a source and a target of popular dissent through digital mediation and politicisation. Drawing on an interpretive analysis of qualitative data collected from multiple digital platforms, the analysis explicates the citizen curation of socio-technic counter-imaginaries that constituted a consent of dissent in the digital realm, and the creation and diffusion of networked action repertoires in response to a changing political opportunity structure. In addition to explicating the words and deeds employed in this networked dissent, this article also discusses the technopolitical repercussions of this dissent for the city’s later attempts at data-based urban governance, which have unfolded at the intersections of urban techno-politics and local contentious politics. Moving beyond the common focus on neoliberal governmentality and its limits, this article reveals the underexplored pitfalls of smart urban infrastructure vis-à-vis the shifting socio-political landscape of Hong Kong, particularly in the digital age.