Objective: This research aims to investigate the legal dynamics of leasing agricultural land plots integrated with protective plantings, motivated by recent legislative changes that significantly influence both agricultural productivity and environmental conservation. Methods: The authors of the article used the methods of axiological, positivist, dogmatic, historical, and comparative-legal analysis. Results: The study considers the recent legislative amendments that grant agricultural producers the right to lease land with forest belts without the need for bidding. It traces the historical development of forest plantations, highlighting their major role in intensifying agricultural production. Our results reveal that the new legislative framework allows agricultural producers to lease lands with protective forest belts without bidding, a change that highlights the complexities of balancing economic efficiency with ecological sustainability. Conclusions: The research emphasizes the unique legal challenges and opportunities presented by forest belt leasing in the agricultural context. It stipulates the need for a balanced legal framework that preserves environmental integrity, protects property rights, and supports sustainable agricultural practices. This study dwells on the evolving legal landscape of forest belt leasing and its implications for agricultural land management in Russia and similar regions. The significance of this research in its comprehensive analysis of the legal, economic, and ecological dimensions of land leasing, offering a nuanced understanding of how legislative changes shape land use strategies.

The increase in energy consumption is closely linked to environmental pollution. Healthcare spending has increased significantly in recent years in all countries, especially after the pandemic. The link between healthcare spending, greenhouse gas emissions and gross domestic product has led many researchers to use modelling techniques to assess this relationship. For this purpose, this paper analyzes the relationship between per capita healthcare expenditure, per capita gross domestic product and per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the 27 EU countries for the period 2000 to 2020 using Error Correction Westerlund, and Westerlund and Edgerton Lagrange Multiplier (LM) bootstrap panel cointegration test. The estimation of model coefficients was carried out using the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) method adopted by Eberhardt and Teal, when there is heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence in cross-sectional units. In addition, Dumitrescu and Hurlin test has been used to detect causality. The findings of the study showed that in the long run, per capita emissions of greenhouse gases have a negative effect on per capita health expenditure, except from the case of Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Latvia. On the other hand, long-term individual co-integration factors of GDP per capita have a positively strong impact on health expenditure per capita in all EU countries. Finally, Dumitrescu and Urlin’s causality results reveal a significant one-way causality relationship from GDP per capita and CO₂ emissions per capita to healthcare expenditure per capita for all EU countries.