The role of technological innovation and diffusion, energy consumption and financial development in affecting ecological footprint in BRICS: an empirical analysis

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.

Asymmetric impact of patents on green technologies on Algeria's Ecological Future

This study examines how patents on green technologies impact Algeria's ecological footprint from 1990 to 2022 while controlling for economic growth and energy consumption. The objectives are to analyze the asymmetric effects of positive and negative shocks in these drivers on ecological footprint and provide policy insights on leveraging innovations and growth while minimizing environmental harm. Given recent major structural shifts in Algeria's economy, time series data exhibits nonlinear dynamics. To accommodate this nonlinearity, the study employs an innovative nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag approach. The findings indicate that an upsurge in green technologies (termed as a positive shock) significantly reduces the ecological footprint, thereby enhancing ecological sustainability. Interestingly, a decline in green technologies (termed as a negative shock) also contributes to reducing the ecological footprint. This highlights the crucial role of clean technologies in mitigating ecological damage in both scenarios. Conversely, a positive shock in economic growth increases ecological footprint, underscoring the imperative for environmentally friendly policies in tandem with economic expansion. Negative shocks, however, have minimal impact. In a similar vein, positive shock in energy consumption increases ecological footprint, underlining the importance of transitioning towards cleaner energy sources. Negative shock has a smaller but still noticeable effect. The results confirm asymmetric impacts, with positive and negative changes in the drivers affecting Algeria's ecological footprint differently. To ensure long-term economic and ecological stability, Algeria should prioritize eco-innovation and green technology development. This will reduce dependence on fossil fuels and create new, sustainable industries.

Do the effects of aggregate and disaggregate energy consumption on different environmental quality indicators change in the transition to sustainable development? Evidence from wavelet coherence analysis

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the United Nations (UN) member states in 2015, half of the target period has been exceeded. However, China, whose energy consumption relies heavily on fossil resources, remains at the top of the list of global polluters. Therefore, investigating the environmental impacts of energy types is essential to China's path towards Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-7 and SDG-13. Based on this motivation, the paper offers new insights into the energy-environment literature for China with wavelet coherence analysis (WCA). This approach can investigate the relationship between variables in a periodic manner based on the frequency behavior of the models. The paper separately analyzes the effects of primary energy consumption (PEC), fossil energy consumption (FEC), renewable energy consumption (REC), nuclear energy consumption (NEC), GDP, and population (POP) on three different environmental indicators in China. Using two environmental pollution indicators (carbon emission (CO2) and ecological footprint (EF)) and one environmental quality indicator (load capacity factor (LCF)), the paper allows for comparison and robustness checks on the environmental impacts of energy indicators. Empirical findings reveal the following: (i) Except for REC and POP in the CO2 model, the variables in all three models largely move together during the period under observation; (ii) variables other than POP have consistent coefficient signs; (iii) PEC, FEC, NEC, and GDP increase CO2 and EF while decreasing LCF; (iv) the effect of NEC on LCF is more obvious until 2000; (v) unlike the others, REC affects CO2 and EF negatively and LCF positively; (vi) there is bidirectional causality between PEC and environmental indicators but not for REC; (vii) the causality relations of other variables with environmental indicators differ in terms of model, time, and direction of causality. In light of the findings, the paper highlights that only the REC improves environmental quality in China. Other energy indicators contribute to environmental degradation. China, whose ecological deficit has increased dramatically in recent years, urgently needs to reduce its dependence on fossil energy sources by accelerating investments in REC. Governments should also review nuclear energy policies, which are expected to help achieve carbon neutrality.

Analyzing the validity of load capability curve: how economic complexity, renewable energy, R&D, and communication technologies take their part in G-20 countries

Intense anthropogenic contamination of the air, water, and soil inspires scholars to examine the causes of pollution and provide remedies to assure environmental sustainability. Therefore, researchers in this study are driven to investigate the causes of the severe air, water, and soil contamination that has resulted from human activity and to offer recommendations for achieving environmental sustainability. This research contributes to the ecological works by suggesting the load capability curve (LCH) hypothesis and using the load capacity factor (LC) to investigate components influencing climatic quality. The LC enables thorough climatic value examination when comparing ecological footprint and biocapacity. Information and communication technologies (INF), development and research (R&D), renewable energy (RE) usage, and disposable income are all examined, considering their effects on the load capacity factor. This analysis utilizes the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag estimator and the Westerlund cointegration on data for the G-20 countries from 1995 to 2018. Empirical evidence suggests that renewables, R&D spending, economic complexity, and INF all benefit environmental quality. This study cannot support the LCH hypothesis, which states that increasing income worsens ecological conditions up to a certain point but then aids in improving environmental quality afterward. Based on the findings, G-20 governments should prioritize environmental policies that boost economic growth, spread renewable energy, prioritize research and development spending, and assist the implementation of green INF infrastructure.

Role of natural gas and nuclear energy consumption in fostering environmental sustainability in India

This paper investigates the role of nuclear energy in promoting ecological sustainability in India, focusing on three ecological indicators: ecological footprint (EF), CO2 emissions (CO2), and load capacity factor (LF). In addition to nuclear energy, the study considers the influence of gas consumption and other drivers of ecological sustainability using data spanning from 1970 to 2018. The analysis also takes into account the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis on the model, employing the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and frequency domain causality approaches to assess the relationships. Unlike previous studies, this research evaluates both the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and load capacity curve (LCC) hypotheses. The ARDL results support the validity of both the EKC and LCC hypotheses in the Indian context. Furthermore, the findings reveal that nuclear energy and human capital contribute positively to ecological quality, while gas consumption and economic growth have a negative impact on ecological sustainability. The study also highlights the increasing effect of the 2008 global financial crisis on ecological sustainability. Additionally, the causality analysis demonstrates that nuclear energy, human capital, gas consumption, and economic growth can serve as predictors of long-term ecological sustainability in India. Based on these findings, the research presents policy recommendations that can guide efforts towards achieving SDGs 7 and 13.

Evaluating the impact of digitalization, renewable energy use, and technological innovation on load capacity factor in G8 nations

Ecosystems are in danger due to human-caused air, water, and soil pollution, so it is important to find the underlying causes of this issue and develop practical solutions. This study adds to environmental research gap by suggesting the load capability factor (LCF) and using it to look at the factors affectting environmental health. The load capacity factor simplifies monitoring environmental health by illustrating the distinction between ecological footprint and biocapacity. We examine the interplay between mobile phone users (Digitalization DIG), technological advancements (TEC), renewable energy use, economic growth, and financial development. This study assesses G8 economies' data from 1990 to 2018, using a Cross-Section Improved Autoregressive Distributed Lag CS-ARDL estimator and a cointegration test. The data shows that green energy, TEC innovation, and DIG are all beneficial for natural health. Based on the results of this study, the G8 governments should focus on environmental policies that promote economic growth, increase the use of renewable energy sources, guide technological progress in key areas, and encourage the development of digital information and communications technologies that are better for the environment.

The potency of natural resources and trade globalisation in the ecological sustainability target for the BRICS economies

The BRICS nations have yet to significantly contribute to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 7 and 13. Dealing with this problem might necessitate a policy shift, which is the main topic of this research. Therefore, the current study scrutinizes the interrelationship between natural resources, energy, trade globalisation and ecological footprint using panel data from the period between 1990 and 2018 for the BRICS nations. To assess the interrelationship between ecological footprint and its determinants, we used the Cross sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) and common correlated effects. mean group (CCEMG) estimators. The findings show that economic progress, and natural resources lessen ecological quality, while renewable energy and trade globalization improves ecological quality in the BRICS nations. Based on these results, the BRICS nations need to upgrade their use of renewable energy sources and improve the structure of their natural resource endowments. Furthermore, trade globalisation necessitates immediate policy responses in these nations since it reduces ecological damage.

Information and communication technology, institutional quality, and environmental sustainability in ASEAN countries

Concerns regarding climate change pollution have remained critical in achieving sustainable development goals. However, countries are still having difficulty reducing environmental deterioration, requiring substantial attention. Hence, this study evaluates the effect of information and communication technology (ICT), institutional quality, economic growth, and energy consumption on ecological footprint under the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) framework in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries from 1990 to 2018. Moreover, this study also checks the impact of an interaction term (ICT and institutional quality) on ecological footprint. We utilized cross-section dependence, cross-section unit root, and Westerlund's cointegration tests for the econometric investigation to check cross-section dependence, stationarity, and cointegration among parameters. For long and short run estimation, we used pooled mean group (PMG) estimator. PMG outcomes demonstrate that the ICT and institutional quality clean the environment by mitigating the ecological footprint. Further, the joint impact of ICT and institutional quality also moderate environmental degradation. Moreover, economic growth and energy consumption increase the ecological footprint. In addition, empirical outcomes also support the presence of the EKC hypothesis in ASEAN countries. The empirical outcomes suggest that environmental sustainability's sustainable development goal can be achieved through ICT innovation and diffusion and by improving the intuitional quality framework.

Capital Formation, Green Innovation, Renewable Energy Consumption and Environmental Quality: Do Environmental Regulations Matter?

The world economy continues to witness a steady rise in carbon emissions, which makes it challenging to fulfill the terms of the Paris agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, countries worldwide enact environmental regulations to curtail environmental pollution to promote sustainable development. However, the importance of environmental regulations has not been fully validated in the previous literature. In addition, the concurrent roles of capital formation, green innovation, and renewability cannot be overlooked. Against this backdrop, this study selects data from G7 countries from 1994 to 2019 to explore the effect of environmental regulations, capital formation, green innovation, and renewable energy consumption on CO₂ emissions. In order to achieve the above research objectives, we employ the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MM-QR) for empirical analysis. The results reveal that capital formation significantly enhances environmental quality by reducing CO₂ emissions across all quantiles (10th-90th). Environmental regulations show a significant and negative impact on CO₂ emission mainly at the middle and higher emissions quantiles, while the effect is insignificant at lower quantiles (10th). Moreover, green innovation and renewable energy consumption mitigate CO₂ emissions across all quantiles (10th-90th), while economic growth deteriorates environmental quality in G7 countries. The panel granger causality results indicate the unidirectional causality running from capital formation, environmental regulations, and renewable energy towards CO₂ emissions, which implies that any policy related to these variables will Granger cause CO₂ emissions but not the other way round. Based on the findings, important policy implications are proposed to promote sustainable development in G7 countries.

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.