The intermittent effects of renewable energy on ecological footprint: evidence from developing countries

Achieving ecological sustainability in European countries: Does low carbon energy lead to a carbon neutrality pathway?

The European Union (EU) recently intensified its focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve its net-zero emissions target. Thus, climate action and access to clean energy have become prominent research topics. Previous studies have predominantly explored the individual impacts of nuclear and renewable energy on EU economies within the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Departing from this conventional approach, the present study examines the effect of low-carbon energy consumption (LEC) on environmental quality while controlling for ecological influences of natural resource rents (NAT) and foreign direct investment (FDI). The study adopts the CS-ARDL approach to analyze annual data from 1996 to 2022. This analysis is framed within a novel framework: the load capacity curve (LCC) hypothesis. The empirical assessment reveals the following findings: i) The LCC hypothesis is validated for EU economies, indicating that these countries are on a path towards achieving their net-zero emissions target. ii) LEC positively impacts the ecosystem. iii) FDI and NAT are found to degrade environmental quality. Given these findings, EU economies should continue to increase their LEC within the total energy mix. Environmental sustainability can be further supported by implementing green policies aimed at regulating NAT and FDI. In conclusion, this study offers policies that will put the EU on the zero-emission path within the framework of SDGs.

Sustainable development in Southeast Asia: The nexus of tourism, finance, and environment

Southeast Asia's booming tourism and rapid economic growth create a unique setting to explore the interplay between economic development, tourism, and environmental sustainability. This study examines the complex interplay between tourism expansion, financial development, and environmental sustainability in Southeast Asia, specifically from 2000 to 2023. This research aims to fill gaps in previous studies, particularly within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) context, and to provide a comprehensive understanding of how tourism and financial growth impact environmental outcomes in this region. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model with Pooled Mean Group (PMG) specifications is utilized to analyze the long-term relationships between these factors while capturing the unique short-run dynamics of individual countries within Southeast Asia. The findings reveal intricate relationships spanning both short-term and long-term dynamics, highlighting the impact of tourism growth on environmental factors such as increased renewable energy use, Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emission, and ecological footprints. One-way causality from tourism, financial development, and renewable energy use to the ecological footprint is observed, alongside bidirectional causality between various factors. Policy implications emphasize the need for sustainable tourism practices and renewable energy integration. This research location's specific focus on Southeast Asia provides critical insights for policymakers aiming to balance economic growth with environmental conservation.

Modeling the ecological footprint and assessing its influential factors: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Various factors have been found responsible for the increment in ecological footprint resulting difficulties in maintaining environmental sustainability. This has been noticed through a modeling perspective. Identifying the factors affecting Ecological Footprint helps policymakers to formulate policies regarding sustainability. However, studies conducted based upon systematic reviews on Ecological Footprint through modeling are still limited.

OBJECTIVE

This study intends to identify influential factors associated with ecological footprint through a systematic review.

METHODS

ProQuest, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were used to search literature systematically. Particular keywords and Boolean operators were applied to dig out relevant studies for the review. Peer-reviewed research articles published in the English language till September 13, 2023, were incorporated for the analysis. Following the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA), 1011 articles were identified from four different databases and only 37 research papers were eligible for this study. These articles were assessed and relevant information was extracted and then amalgamated into the systematic review.

RESULTS

Gross domestic product, urbanization, energy consumption, renewable energy, non-renewable energy, natural resources, bio-capacity, human capital, foreign direct investment, trade openness, and financial development were observed as key factors of the ecological footprint.

CONCLUSION

Factors known to influence ecological footprint need to be addressed properly for environmental sustainability including widespread use of renewable energy.

Renewable energy and ecological footprint nexus: Evidence from dynamic panel threshold technique

The escalating phenomenon of environmental degradation is an urgent global concern, imperiling ecosystems and hindering the prospects for sustainable development on a planetary scale. Therefore, this study aims to explore the intricate interplay between renewable energy (RE) and ecological footprint (EF), considering the conditional impact of fiscal capacity (FIC), human development (HDI), institutional quality (IQI), and population density (PDN). Drawing on panel data encompassing 74 developing countries from 2000 to 2022, the study employs a dynamic panel threshold regression method, both with and without an instrumental variable approach. The findings unveil a non-linear nexus between RE and EF, revealing significant threshold values for FIC (1.870), HDI (0.736), and IQI (0.311), above which RE showcases its efficacy in mitigating EF. Conversely, when these predictors dip below the thresholds of FIC (1.391), HDI (0.655), and IQI (0.2545), the impact of RE on FE becomes insignificant. Moreover, the study introduces PDN as an additional threshold variable in the analysis, pinpointing that the effectiveness of RE in reducing EF hinges on PDN being below a threshold value of 263.144; however, above a threshold value of 276.98, the influence of PDN on the RE-FE nexus diminishes. The findings underscore the complexity of policy landscapes in developing countries. They suggest that while promoting renewable energy is pivotal for environmental sustainability, it is equally imperative to bolster existing environmentally friendly fiscal capacity, advance human capital, enhance institutional quality, and craft effective population distribution policies.

Do circular economy, renewable energy, industrialization, and globalization influence environmental indicators in belt and road initiative countries?

This paper is the first comprehensive research to examine the effect of circular economy on environment employing two environmental degradation indicators (CO2 emissions, ecological footprint) and one environmental quality indicator (load capacity factor) for 57 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries during 2000-2019. The effect of other variables such as renewable energy, industrialization, and globalization was also controlled. The study applied the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag method (CS-ARDL), the augmented mean group (AMG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) methods as a robustness checks. The empirical findings reveal that circular economy and renewable energy have pro-environmental effects by decreasing carbon emissions and ecological footprint and increasing the load capacity factor in BRI countries. However, industrialization and globalization have detrimental effects on the environment. The result of causality shows a bidirectional causality between renewable energy, circular economy, industrialization, and three environmental indicators, but the relationship of globalization with CO2 emissions and the load capacity factor is unidirectional and with the ecological footprint is bidirectional. All the results are confirmed by the robustness tests. The study suggests policy implications for the BRI government.

Trade openness, human capital, natural resource, and carbon emission nexus: a CS-ARDL assessment for Central Asian economies

There is a call for global efforts to preserve the ecological systems that can sustain economies and people's lives. However, carbon emission (CEM) threatens the sustainability of humanity and ecological systems. This analysis looked into the influence of energy use (ERU), human capital (HCI), trade openness (TOP), natural resource (NRR), population, and economic growth (ENG) on CEM. The paper gathered panel data from the Central Asia region from 1990 to 2020. The CS-ARDL was applied to establish the long-term interaction among the indicators. The paper's findings indicated the presence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in the Central Asia regions. Also, the empirical evidence highlighted that energy use, natural resources, and trade openness cause higher levels of CEM. However, the research verified that CEM can be improved through human capital and urban population growth. The study also found that HCI moderates the interaction between NRR and CEM. The causality assessment indicated a one-way interplay between ENG, ERU, NRR, and CEM. The study proposes that to support ecological stability in these regions, policy-makers should concentrate on developing human capital, investing in renewable energy sources, and utilizing contemporary technologies to harness natural resources in the economies of Central Asia.

Linking clean energy consumption, globalization, and financial development to the ecological footprint in a developing country: Insights from the novel dynamic ARDL simulation techniques

Developing countries have been facing economic difficulties for over three and a half decades due to numerous factors, including fossil fuel consumption and dwindling biocapacity. It is necessary to pinpoint the factors that may be culpable for poor environmental quality leading to a rising ecological footprint (EFP). This study explores the effect of clean energy, financial development (FDV), and globalization on the EFP in a developing country using the novel dynamic ARDL simulation techniques and the bootstrap causality test. The findings suggest that green energy has no meaningful impact on the EFP. Globalization and FDV significantly reduce the EFP by 0.25% and 0.08%, respectively. Besides, the findings confirm the existence of the EKC hypothesis. Furthermore, the causality results affirm a unidirectional causality from globalization and FDV to EFP, while economic growth drives globalization. Also, a one-way causality flows from globalization to FDV, just as FDV Granger causes green energy. In line with the findings, the study recommends that public policies focus on funding environmental-friendly technologies and green innovations. The funding must be on recently developed energy-saving technologies that can ensure complementarity between increased economic growth and environmental deterioration.

Pollution halo impact in context of productive capacities, energy poverty, urbanization, and institutional quality

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) represents a substantial development strategy spearheaded by China. Its central aim is to foster connectivity across a vast geographical area that includes countries spanning Asia, Europe, and Africa. This project played a pivotal role to develop the region on the one side and also raised serious environmental concerns on the other side. There is extensive literature explored the various dimensions affecting the environment in BRI partner countries but there is hardly any study examining the impact of productive capacities, energy poverty, FDI, urbanization, and institutional quality on CO2 emission in the BRI region. Moreover, pollution halo impact is also explored so this study used panel data of 52 nations engaged in the BRI covering time span of 2001-2022 by applying OLS, Difference GMM, System GMM, Cross sectional-ARDL techniques. The results suggest that enhancing productive capacities, FDI and institutional quality significantly reduces carbon emissions in the region, while energy poverty, urbanization and economic growth is linked to higher carbon emissions. Moreover, 'pollution halo effect' is proved because of adoption of eco-friendly technologies through foreign corporations lead to reduction in carbon emission. The study advocates for policy measures that emphasize the promotion of productive capacities, the utilization of renewable energy sources, the adoption of practices regarding sustainable urban development, the implementation of efficient institutional structure, and inflow of eco-friendly technology through FDI.

What level of renewable energy production will reduce ecological footprint without compromising trade? Evidence from Shanghai Cooperation Organization nations

In order to decarbonize the global economy and reduce environmental degradation, it has become necessary to switch from using fossil fuels to renewable energy. However, a net zero global economy cannot be achieved without understanding the total renewable energy generation threshold and associated investment amount. This study estimates the renewable energy generation threshold to mitigate environmental degradation using data from 2003 to 2019 while focusing on Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) nations. A panel fully modified model and the eight permanent nations of the SCO are employed. Our results show that while trade openness, foreign direct investment, and economic activities positively drive environmental degradation, renewable energy generation is a negative driver, and population has no relationship with environmental degradation. The threshold analysis shows that SCO nations need to increase their renewable energy generation from the current average of 2.403 to 7.737. Policy recommendation regarding how these nations can raise this money has been provided.

Ecological footprints and sustainable environmental management: A critical view of China's economy

Global economies have recently been concerned about sustainable environmental management by reducing emissions and tackling ecological footprints. The rapid economic expansion and investment in traditional manufacturing further raises environmental degradation. China surpasses other emerging economies in the economic growth race yet has remained the top pollution-emitting economy for the last few decades, necessitating scholarly attention. This study examines the influencing factors of ecological footprints in China from the perspective of COP27. Using the extended dataset from 1988 to 2021, this study uses several time series diagnostic tests and verifies the existence of the long-run association between the study variables. Consequently, the non-linear scattered data leads to non-parametric (method of moment quantile regression) adoption. The empirical results indicate that only economic growth is a significant factor in environmental quality degradation in China. However, improving renewable energy usage, research and development, and foreign direct investment reduces the country's ecological footprint. Hence, the latter variables substantially lead to environmental sustainability. The robustness of the results is confirmed via a robust non-parametric estimator and causality test. Based on the empirical results, this study recommends increased investment in research and development, renewable production, and foreign direct investment enhancement.

Does green innovation reduce environmental degradation? A panel threshold analysis for BRICS countries

In this present age, innovation has become inextricably tied to both long-term economic growth and environmentally sound development. In this context, the impact that environmentally focused technological advancements or innovations have on environmental quality is of the utmost importance. Therefore, the main goal of the present study is to determine how Green innovation (GI) affects environmental degradation in the BRICS countries from 1992 to 2021. The ecological footprint (EFT) is an indicator used in the study to measure environmental degradation. The study divides the components that contribute to the explanation into two categories: the GI threshold variable and the independent variables RE, GDP, and population (POP). Additionally, this study investigates the indirect impact of RE, GDP, and POP through the threshold effect of GI. The stochastic impacts of the explanatory factors are explored using sophisticated panel data estimation methods and a panel threshold model. According to the findings of the study, an improvement in environmental quality occurs when the threshold level of GI is achieved, which indicates that innovation in the form of a lower EFT is responsible for the improvement. In light of the findings, recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders in BRICS countries are to promote RE and drive GI.

Disaggregated energy consumption, industrialization, total population, and ecological footprint nexus: evidence from the world's top 10 most populous countries

High population, energy consumption, industrialization, and environmental degradation are inherently linked, making the study of ecological footprints in the most populous countries crucial for understanding their environmental impact and guiding efforts to minimize ecological degradation through sustainable resource management and conservation. Therefore, this study examines the effects of disaggregated energy consumption, industrialization, and total population on the ecological footprint of the world's top 10 most populous countries namely Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, and the USA, using data for the period of 1990-2020. The research employs Kao and Pedroni techniques of cointegration to determine whether the variables are cointegrated in the long run. The long-term equilibrium association is measured utilizing panel autoregressive distributed lag/pooled mean group (ARDL/PMG), and method of moment quantile (MMQ) regression methods. Furthermore, to test for the causal relationships between the selected variables, we used the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (D-H) panel causality method. The findings of the study reveal that renewable energy consumption, as well as GDP square, have a significant negative influence on ecological footprint, implying that renewable energy and GDP square reduce ecological footprint and thus enhance environmental quality. Furthermore, non-renewable energy, industrialization, total population, and GDP have a detrimental impact on environmental quality by increasing ecological footprint. It is also found that there is a one-way causality from non-renewable energy and industrialization to ecological footprint and a bidirectional causal relationship between ecological footprint and total population, GDP, and GDP2. Important policy implications are drawn based on the findings.

Greening the BRI countries through economic and political reforms

Preserving the environment and promoting sustainable development are essential objectives for a state aimed at improving the standard of living for present and future generations. The depletion of natural resources and environmental degradation are serious concerns for policymakers worldwide. However, to fulfill its role effectively, a state must have strong institutional capacity. Studies have shown that inadequate governance and weak institutional quality are associated with environmental degradation, lower economic growth, unfavorable development outcomes, and increased inequality. Economic and political reforms are necessary to overcome these issues, while the concept of institutional reforms to save the environment is novel and hardly discussed in the earlier literature, especially in the context of BRI countries. So, this study explores the impact of economic and political reforms on the environment by applying a difference-in-differences approach to the data of 45 BRI economies from 2000 to 2022. The empirical findings reveal a negative relationship between economic and political reforms on ecological footprints, emphasizing the need for institutional reform to preserve the environment in the BRI region. Institutional reforms have a significant contribution to environmental sustainability by fostering better governance, political stability, and an environment conducive to reforms-driven decision-making. These reforms can help address the environmental challenges associated with large-scale infrastructure and economic development projects like the BRI, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable future.

Democracy, green energy, trade, and environmental progress in South Asia: Advanced quantile regression perspective

Unquestionably, the industrial revolution of the twenty-first century contributes to global warming. Excessive amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere are responsible for global warming. Therefore, this research aims to assess the impact of GDP, green energy consumption, population, trade openness, and democracy on CO2 emissions in four selected South Asian countries from 1990 to 2019. This research also attempts to evaluate the EKC hypothesis in terms of economic growth (GDP2). The unit root of panel data and cointegration tests are executed in this study as a prelude to the regression analysis. Quantile regression for panel data, which (Powell, 2016) devised to deal with the fixed effect problem, is used in this study, and (Powell, 2016) empirical findings are the main focus. The estimated coefficient of GDP is positively significant, demonstrating that economic activity increases the burning of fossil fuels and upsurges atmospheric CO2 emissions. After attaining economic development, the reversed U-shaped EKC theory is valid for four selected South Asian countries. Economic development encourages these countries to use green technology, which helps mitigate CO2 emissions. The research, however, reveals that green energy is to blame for CO2 emissions. Burning biomass releases carbon dioxide that negatively impacts the quality of the environment. The study confirms that human activities are the leading contributor to environmental deterioration. Population growth has a worsening effect on the environment. The association between population and CO2 emissions is positively significant. The estimated coefficient of trade openness is positive, which increases CO2 emissions significantly. The estimated coefficient of democracy is quite negative. Therefore, this study suggests prioritizing democracy to reduce CO2 emissions. Citizens who live in democracies are better informed, more organized, and able to protest, all of which contribute to increased government responsiveness to environmental preservation. The results of the Wald test support the differential effects at various quantiles. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin (2012) panel causality tests are also used in this analysis to check causality between variables. Based on the findings, this research makes many policy suggestions for lowering carbon emissions.

Do natural resources affect environmental quality in MINT Economies? The role of tourism and financial development

With the growing nature of the ecological footprint, research studies focus on exploring new determinants of environmental degradation. Moreover, the role of natural resources and energy consumption in environmental quality has gained much attention in the literature. However, tourism raises the demand for energy consumption and extraction of natural resources. This research study investigates the influence of natural resources, tourism, and renewable energy in MINT countries, using novel Cross-Sectional Auto Regressive Distributive Lag (CS-ARDL) methodological techniques and employing yearly data from 1995 to 2018. The study also applied recently developed Kónya (Econ Model 23:978-992, 2006) causality to identify the causal relationship between the variables of the heterogenous panel. The result shows that tourism, natural resources, and economic growth are positively associated with the ecological footprint in the long-run. However, renewable energy consumption negatively impacts ecological footprint in both in short-run and the long-run. Further, the study explored a bidirectional causality between economic growth and ecological footprint in MINT countries. Finally, based on the empirical results, the study recommends that the authorities in MINT countries revisit their tourism, natural resources, and economic activities policies to enhance the environmental quality and reduce the ecological footprint.

Towards environmental degradation mitigation: The role of regulatory quality, technological innovation and government effectiveness in the CEMAC countries

The study explores the interaction between regulatory quality, economic growth, technological innovation, energy consumption, government spending on research and development, and environmental degradation (EVD) in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) region. The study applied the econometric approach CS-ARDL to estimate the short and long-term interaction between the regressors and the explanatory variable. The study period covers from 1990 to 2020. To summarize the findings of this research, (1) the study discovered a positive relationship between energy consumption, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and environmental degradation. (2) Economic growth, government spending on research and development, and technological innovation, on the other hand, extensively dissipates EVD in the CEMAC economies. (3) The causality analysis espoused a bidirectional connection between energy consumption, technological innovation, and EVD. (4) Lastly, a unidirectional interplay exists between economic growth, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and EVD. This study also serves as a reference point for policymakers and governmental institutions to invest in cleaner technologies and increase government research and development spending to mitigate environmental degradation in these areas.

An empirical assessment of the tripartite nexus between environmental pollution, economic growth, and agricultural production in Sub-Saharan African countries

A lot of attention has been paid to environmental pollution worldwide, due to the increase in anthropogenic activities. Massive investment in non-renewable energy options raises questions regarding environmental sustainability and how to maximize food and non-food output while still preserving a healthy ecosystem. To this end, the present study explores the three-way nexus between economic growth, CO₂ emission, and agriculture-value added will accounting for other control variables across a balanced panel of selected African economies from 1997 to 2020. Panel econometrics method of the generalized method of moments (two-step difference GMM) is used to obtain a robust result. From the present study, the environmental pollution model shows that economic growth significantly contributes to environmental pollution in Africa. Additionally, the food price index, capital, and FDI promote pollution, while agricultural production and labor decrease pollution. In the case of the economic growth model, the findings reveal that environmental pollution supports the growth-led pollution hypothesis. Also, the food price index and capital ameliorate economic growth, while foreign direct investments decrease economic growth. Finally, the agricultural production model indicates that economic growth increases agricultural production when the interaction term between GDPC and FDI is included in the model. In summary, the combination of explanatory variables, environmental pollution, capital, and foreign direct investment decreases agricultural production. On the contrary, the food price index and labor promote agricultural production in Africa. Furthermore, the study provides a lot of policies for authorities and stakeholders in Sub-Saharan African countries and other developing economies.

An empirical investigation of the effects of poverty and urbanization on environmental degradation: the case of sub-Saharan Africa

This study empirically investigates the effects of poverty and urbanization on environmental degradation for a sample of 43 sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies from 1995 to 2018. The major contribution of the study lies in examining the existence of non-linear effects of poverty and urbanization on environmental degradation. We considered a set of institutional and demographic factors to explain the dynamics among poverty, urbanization, and environmental degradation. Findings suggest that an increase in the poverty gap significantly contributes towards intensifying environmental degradation in SSA countries. Results also show the existence of a non-linear relationship between poverty and environmental degradation. The findings purpose several crucial policy recommendations which necessitate the participation of different stakeholders such as government, institutions, researchers, non-profit organizations and citizens for the effective implementations of environment-friendly policies. A battery of robustness tests confirms the validity of the main findings of the study.

The symmetric and asymmetric impacts of green energy, eco-innovation, and urbanization in explaining low-carbon economy for Pakistan

Over the past three decades, global economic development patterns have considerably affected the natural environment, and economies have endured a plethora of environmental concerns as a result of the negative effects of climate change. Among them, Pakistan is the fifth most vulnerable country, and climate change has harmfully affected the ecological and socio-economic conditions of the country. In this regard, this study aimed to investigate the role of green energy consumption, eco-innovation, and urbanization while explaining the dream of low-carbon economy and environmental sustainability in the context of Pakistan using annual time series dataset spanning from 1990 to 2020. The short-run and long-run associations among explained and explanatory variables were investigated using the symmetric, asymmetric, and quantile autoregressive distributed lag models. The findings of the study demonstrated that low-carbon economy, green energy consumption, ecological innovation, urbanization, GDP per capita, and labor force are cointegrated for the long-term association in symmetric, asymmetric, and quantile autoregressive distributed lag models. Furthermore, green energy consumption and effective eco-innovation are the most important paths to ensure environmental sustainability, while urbanization, GDP per capita, and labor force contribute negatively to the low-carbon economy. The findings of the study provide a policy framework for the development of a comprehensive strategy to promote environmental sustainability in Pakistan by emphasizing green energy consumption, ecological innovation, and controlled urbanization, as well as the incorporation of environment friendly policies into economic development policies.

A Ni-MOF derived graphene oxide combined Ni3S2-Ni/C composite and its use in the separator coating for lithium sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) are widely regarded as reliable novel secondary batteries due to their low price and high capacity. Nevertheless, the notorious "shuttle effect" limits the commercialization of LSBs. In order to solve this problem, we fabricated a Ni₃S₂-Ni/C composite through carbonization, vulcanization and hydrothermal reactions by using a Ni-MOF precursor and applied it as a separator modification layer to enhance the electrochemical properties of LSBs. To further increase the conductivity of the material, a small amount of GO was added during the experiment. The prepared material was also used as separator modified coating material to optimize the electrochemical performance of LSBs. The as prepared Ni₃S₂-Ni/C(GO) composite shows good conductivity and has a superior porous structure and abundant active sites. Lithium polysulfides (LPs) can be physically confined and chemically adsorbed, what is more, the Ni and Ni₃S₂ active sites enable fast conversion of LPs which further optimizes the rate performance. From the cycle performance measurement, the initial discharge specific capacity of the Ni₃S₂-Ni/C(GO) modified separator battery is found to be 1263.4, 1181.5, 1090.6, and 840.3 mA h g^-1 at 0.05, 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5C, respectively. After 400 charge/discharge cycles at 0.5C, the capacity remains at 483.6mA h g^-1 with a capacity retention ratio of 57.56%.

Sustainable development of West African economies to achieve environmental quality

The deterioration of environmental quality spurred on by rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is the main threat to reducing carbon footprint. Africa has recently been identified as having experienced excessive temperatures above pre-industrial standards. Despite its lower GHG emissions, Africa continues to be among the most impacted areas of the world by global warming. However, this research scrutinizes the effect of human capital and trade openness on the ecological footprint (ECF) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions using data from West Africa from 1995 to 2016. The research used dynamic ordinary least squares, fully modified ordinary least squares, and paired Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality tests for its assessment. The study's findings are as follows: (1) The study found that human capital and trade openness decrease the ecological footprint in West Africa; (2) globalization reduces CO₂ emissions while also increasing the ecological footprint; (3) the analysis reveals that natural resources and the population improve environmental quality in West Africa, while biocapacity reduces the ecological footprint and improves CO₂ emissions in the region; and (4) the study revealed the bidirectional causality between biocapacity, the population, and ECF. The study also revealed the bidirectional causality between biocapacity, population, human capital, natural resources, and CO₂ emissions, while ecological footprint is unidirectionally causally related to globalization, human capital, and trade capital. Unidirectional causality runs from the ecological footprint, globalization, and trade openness to CO₂ emissions. To ensure their countries have a long-term future, policymakers in West Africa should take action to limit overexploitation of natural resources and encourage people to live more sustainably. The study suggested that West African countries adopt "green growth" policies and improve technology to help their economies and the environment.

Are the impacts of renewable energy use on load capacity factors homogeneous for developed and developing nations? Evidence from the G7 and E7 nations

Both developed and underdeveloped economies worldwide are now more concerned than ever in respect of achieving environmental sustainability. Accordingly, the majority of the global economies have ratified several environment-related pacts to facilitate the tackling of global environment-related problems. Although these problems are assumed to be addressed using diverse mechanisms, limiting the use of fossil fuels has often been recognized as the ultimate enabler of environmental sustainability. Against this backdrop, this study aims to assess the environmental impacts associated with higher renewable energy use, controlling for economic growth and population size, in the context of the G7 and E7 countries using data from 1997 to 2018. Moreover, instead of using the traditional environmental quality proxies, this study tries to proxy environmental degradation with the load capacity factor levels of the countries of concern. The long-run associations among the study's variables are confirmed by outcomes generated from the cointegration analysis. Besides, regression analysis highlighted that integrating renewable energy into the energy systems while withdrawing from the use of fossil fuels can help to improve environmental quality by increasing the load capacity factor levels. In contrast, economic growth and population size expansion are evidenced to impose environmental quality-dampening impacts by reducing the load capacity factor levels. However, the findings, in the majority of the cases, are seen to differ across the groups of the G7 and E7 countries, especially in terms of the variations in the magnitudes of marginal environmental effects over the short and long run. Lastly, the causality analysis confirms the directions of the causal relationships among the variables of concern. Based on these results, a couple of policy interventions are recommended for improving environmental quality in the G7 and E7 countries.

Asymmetric role of non-renewable energy consumption, ICT, and financial development on ecological footprints: evidence from QARDL approach

This study examines long-term connection and short-term dynamics concerning ecological footprint and six independent variables, named fossil fuel consumption, energy consumption, financial depth, trade, GDP, and ICT for Pakistan's duration from 1960 to 2019. The "QARDL-quantile autoregressive distributed lag" technique is used for time series and panel estimation. The QARDL model exhibits the connection between variables over the quantiles range, reflecting varying stages of Pakistan's ecological footprint. The results exhibit noticeable quantile-varying co-integration connection among ecological footprint and six independent variables. The results accentuate the significant influence of energy consumption, strong financial position, economic growth, and ICT technologies on ecological well-being, which assists in understanding short and long-term impact on the environment in Pakistan.

The productive capacity and environment: evidence from OECD countries

Environmental degradation is one of the most important and vital issues of today. In this context, many researchers are testing the environmental impact of different indicators. Many economic parameters affect environmental degradation. At the forefront of these parameters is the productive economic structures of the countries. For the first time in the literature, the present paper discusses the dynamic relationship between carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, economic growth, and the productive capacity index (PCI) for a panel of 38 organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) countries spanning the period 2000-2018. In this context, the PCI serves as a measure of the productive economic structure of a country. This empirical study applies panel cointegration techniques to reveal that the series are cointegrated in the long-run. In addition, the pooled mean group-panel autoregressive distributive lag (PMG-ARDL) approach is employed to estimate long-run coefficients. These coefficients confirm the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Finally, the empirical findings confirm that improved productive capacity decreases environmental degradation. This results in important policy recommendations for involved governmental and private stakeholders.

The dynamic nexus between air transport, technological innovation, FDI, and economic growth: evidence from BRICS-MT countries

This study examines the endogenous growth theory for technological innovation and economic growth with the role of foreign direct investment (FDI) and air transport freight in seven emerging BRICS-MT economies. In the existing literature, there is no significant empirical evidence on the dynamic relationship among technological innovation, air transport freight, FDI, and economic growth in BRICS-MT countries. Thus, the current study contributes to the growing literature regarding the role of technological Innovation, air transport, and FDI on economic growth. To this end, we explore the dynamic nexus between technological innovation, air transport, FDI, and economic growth in 7 selected emerging BRICS-MT countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Mexico, and Turkey. This study covers the most recent updated period for panel data from 2000 to 2019. We applied panel cointegration, dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), and Granger causality tests to draw empirical inferences. The Pedroni panel and Kao residual cointegration tests confirm the long-run relationships among the variables. The DOLS results indicate that air transport freight, technological innovation, and FDI significantly positively impact economic growth. This study's findings confirmed the endogenous growth model in BRICS-MT countries. Furthermore, the Granger causality test results show the feedback effect of FDI on economic growth. The outcomes of this study also show the unidirectional causal relationship between air transport freight and economic growth. Moreover, the results provide support to economic policymakers in their decision-making. These results fill the gaps that assist policymakers of BRICS-MT countries in removing barriers to air transport freight, technological innovation, and foreign direct investment, thereby achieving sustainable economic development.

An Asymmetric Nexus between Urbanization and Technological Innovation and Environmental Sustainability in Ethiopia and Egypt: What Is the Role of Renewable Energy?

The present study investigates the nexus between urbanization, technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, and environmental quality in Egypt and Ethiopia from 1980 to 2020 by employing symmetric and asymmetric frameworks. Referring to symmetric assessment, the coefficient of renewable energy consumption and technological innovation revealed a negative and statistically significant tie with environmental sustainability, valid for both proxies. Study findings suggest that clean energy integration and technological innovations in the economy decrease environmental adversity by reducing carbon emissions and ecological blames. Although the elasticity of urbanization has documented a positive and statistically significant connection with environmental sustainability, the conclusion is valid for both models. Second, in the long run, the asymmetric shocks of renewable energy consumption and technological innovation have exposed a negative and statistically significant tie to environmental sustainability, whereas in the case of urbanization, the asymmetric shocks unveiled a positive and statistically significant association to environmental sustainability. Third, the study revealed that the feedback hypothesis explains the relationship between technological innovation and environmental sustainability [TI←→EF] in Egypt and ecological footprint and urbanization in Egypt and Ethiopia. Moreover, unidirectional causality runs from ecological footprint to renewable energy consumption in Egypt and Ethiopia.

Does financial development mitigate the effects of climate variability on rice cultivation? Empirical evidence from agrarian economy

This study is the first attempt to examine the effects of changing climate and financial development on rice cultivation in the context of agrarian economy like Thailand from 1969 to 2016. The current study also uses other important variables, such as cultivated area, organic fertilizers usage, and rural labor to determine the long-term connection amid variables. In this study, we applied several econometric techniques, for instance the autoregressive distributive lag-error correction model (ARDL-ECM), vector error correction model (VECM), impulse response functions (IMFs), and variance decomposition (VARD) method to estimate the most reliable and robust outcomes. The empirical results showed that in the long- and short-run, there is a reduction in rice cultivation as temperature increase. The carbon dioxide (CO₂) positively affects rice cultivation in the long-run, while this association is negative in the short-run. The findings further revealed that in the long- and short-run, domestic credit provided by the financial sector significantly positive improved rice cultivation, while domestic credit to private sector by banks negatively affects rice cultivation. The important input factors, including cultivated area, organic fertilizers usage, and rural labor significantly positive contributed toward rice cultivation in the long- and short-run. The calculated long-run causal connection of all the studied variables with rice cultivation is validated. The estimated short-run causal relationship is unidirectional among temperature, CO₂ emissions, financial development, rural labor, and rice cultivation. In addition, our outcomes are robust and also verified by IMFs and VARD method. The study offers some important policy suggestions to increase rice production with the help of sound and well-developed financial systems and climate controls.

Renewable and Non-Renewable Energy Consumption and Trade Policy: Do They Matter for Environmental Sustainability?

In the extant literature, there are numerous discussions on China’s environmental sustainability. However, few scholars have considered renewable energy consumption and trade policy simultaneously to debate environmental sustainability. Therefore, this paper attempts to examine how renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, bio-capacity, economic growth, and trade policy dynamically affect the ecological footprint (a proxy for environmental sustainability). Using the data from 1971 to 2017 and employing the auto-regressive distributed lag model to perform an empirical analysis, the results demonstrate that renewable energy consumption and trade policy are conducive to environmental sustainability because of their negative impacts on the ecological footprint. However, the results also indicate that bio-capacity, non-renewable energy consumption, and economic growth are putting increasing pressure on environmental sustainability due to their positive impacts on the ecological footprint. Moreover, to determine the direction of causality between the highlighted variables, the Yoda-Yamamoto causality test was conducted. The results suggest a two-way causal relationship between renewable energy consumption and ecological footprint, non-renewable energy consumption and ecological footprint, and economic growth and ecological footprint. Conversely, the results also suggest a one-way causal relationship running from bio-capacity and trade policy to the ecological footprint.

Designing hydro-energy led economic growth for pollution abatement: evidence from BRICS

Overutilized hydro-energy production through non-sustainable mode is detrimental for both the economy and the environment. Intermittent consumption of hydro-energy from non-sustainable production methods may induce deleterious impacts in terms of rapid pollution in the economy. This paper investigates the impacts of hydro-power consumption upon pollution for 5 BRICS countries from 1965 to 2019. Our balanced panel model shows that infrequent usages of hydro-power consumption led to more pollution over the year. This relation is also further explained by considering several macroeconomic factors, in the context of the growth scenario. Our empirical findings show that an increase in population and consequent rise in per capita income have exhibited positive impacts on pollution. Even, improved industrialized led production and investment in these economies contribute heavily towards pollution and declined environmental standards. Our results further state that intermittent usages of natural resources by population in terms of rising ecological footprint have resulted in higher emission intensity over the year. These findings underscore how rising hydro-power energy consumption has led to the rising pollution amidst the growth scenario in BRICS economies.

Investigating the potential role of innovation and clean energy in mitigating the ecological footprint in N11 countries

This paper seeks to explore the potential function of technological innovation and clean power in mitigating the ecological footprint in the N-11 nations during the phase 1992-2015 by applying panel cointegration analysis. The outcomes of the panel cointegration test signify the occurrence of a long-run relation among the clean energy (CE) variable, the ecological footprint (EF) variable, the per capita GDP (Y) variable, the financial development (FIN) variable, and technological innovation (TI) variable. The outcomes of the VECM signify a long-run causal relation from the ecological footprint (EF) variable to the clean energy (CE) variable, the GDP per capita (Y) variable, and technological innovation (TI) variable. This implies that the environmental degradation faced by the N-11 countries leads to shifting toward clean energy sources and technological innovation in the long run. Thus, the N-11 countries are in need to design policies that enhance shifting toward environmentally friendly energy sources.

Modelling the effects of energy diversification on ecological footprint: evidence from Côte d'Ivoire

Energy diversification is a vital contribution to sustainable development. Many countries are accelerating the diversification of their energy mix to meet the challenges of the energy transition. This study aims to model and investigate the effects of energy diversification on the ecological footprint of production in Côte d'Ivoire. The study uses an autoregressive distributed lag model with structural breaks and covers the period 1971-2015. Energy diversification is measured by an "Energy Mix Concentration Index," a concentration indicator based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index. The results suggest that, in the short term, energy diversification reduces the ecological footprint of production in Côte d'Ivoire, and is conducive for environmental protection. In the long term, energy diversification also has a reducing effect on the ecological footprint of production up to a certain threshold where energy concentration increases the ecological footprint. The study finds that there is an optimal level of energy diversification that is ideal for achieving a lower impact of energy diversification activities and exploitation of energy production sources on the environment in Côte d'Ivoire. The commissioning of the Azito power plant in 1999, which produces electricity using natural gas, has also had a major impact, not only on the country's energy mix since then, but also on its ecological footprint of production.

The energy consumption-environmental quality nexus in BRICS countries: the role of outward foreign direct investment

This paper examines the role of outward foreign direct investment on energy consumption and environmental quality in BRICS from 1990 to 2019. Most of the previous research considered foreign direct investment mainly focused on the environmental impact on the host country effect and ignored the home country effect. Therefore, the current study examines the home country effect of environmental pollution. We use various methodologies like cross-sectional dependence and the Pesaran-Yamagata slope homogeneity for the diagnostic test. After confirming the diagnosis test, we employ second-generation panel unit root tests, which confirms that all elements are stationary at first difference. The pooled mean group (PMG), Westerlund cointegration, two-step generalised method of moments (GMM), panel fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) model have been used to determine the short-term and long-term association among the variables. The cointegration and PMG results confirm that the short-run and long-run association exists among the considered variables. The results reveal that developing countries produced environmental pollution at the early stage of development and checked in the long run. The study used the STIRPAT model to build an extended carbon dioxide emissions model by incorporating outward FDI, GDP per capita, and technology to achieve our objectives. The empirical results hold up the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, implying that outward FDI and energy consumption help expand greener technology to host countries' environmental improvement in the long run and confirm that an inverted U-shaped linkage exists. Hence, the study suggests that developing countries should pay more attention to sustainable development and technological development that encourages more eco-friendly and environment-friendly technology.

Analyzing the Role of Renewable Energy and Energy Intensity in the Ecological Footprint of the United Arab Emirates

Even though a great number of researchers have explored the determinants of environmental pollution, the majority have used carbon emissions as an indicator while only recent studies have employed the ecological footprint which is a broader and more reliable indicator for the environment. The present study contributes to the literature by exploring for the first time in the literature the role of real output, energy intensity (technology), and renewable energy in the ecological footprint under the STIRPAT framework for a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country—the United Arab Emirates. By applying the novel bounds testing with dynamic simulations on the data from 1992–2017, the findings of this paper reveal that energy intensity and renewable energy have a negative and significant influence on the ecological footprint but real output has a positive and significant impact on it. In other words, the empirical results indicate that a rise in the real income increases environmental pollution while increases in renewable energy and advances in technology mitigate the level of emissions. The findings also suggest that the government should establish new programs, investment opportunities, and incentives in favor of energy intensity-related technology and renewable energy for the sake of environmental sustainability. The outcomes from this research analysis are useful for policymakers, industrial partners, and project designers in the United Arab Emirates.