Do renewable energy consumption and green innovation help to curb CO2 emissions? Evidence from E7 countries

Does Fintech lead to enhanced environmental sustainability? The mediating role of green innovation in China and India

Fintech and green innovations are increasingly recognized as potential solutions for enhanced environmental sustainability. In this paper, we investigate the impact of Fintech on environmental sustainability through the lens of green innovation in manufacturing. Using questionnaire data from 477 manufacturing firms in China and India between February and June 2024, the study employs Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling to analyze the dynamic relationships. We find that both Fintech and green innovation significantly contribute to improving the environmental sustainability of manufacturing firms. Results further show that Fintech positively supports manufacturing firms' green innovation developments. Moreover, green innovations partially mediate Fintech's effect on environmental sustainability. Our results also highlight regional differences: the impact of Fintech and green innovation on environmental sustainability is stronger in China than in India. Additionally, Fintech's role in supporting green innovations is more pronounced in Chinese firms than in India. The paper highlights the importance of investments in Fintech and green innovation by manufacturing firms, particularly in emerging markets, to address environmental issues for sustainability.

An investigation of the nexus between green innovation and environmental sustainability in Vietnam: new evidence from the wavelet analysis

The research investigates the interactions between ecological sustainability and green technologies in Vietnam at different time and frequency dimensions from 1992 to 2019. This study investigates these correlations and their frequency domains by employing innovative multivariate wavelet analysis techniques. The multiple coherencies between green technologies and ecological sustainability suggest one cycle was placed at low frequencies (periodicity of approximately 5-14 years) and spanned from 1996 to 1998. Two significant coexisted cycles at low frequencies were from 2001 to 2004 and 2001 to 2009. The three additional cycles were situated at high frequencies (periodicity of approximately 1-5 years). These cycles ran from 2004 to 2006, 2014 to 2016, and another cycle from 2017 to 2019. The partial wavelet coherency of green technology growth and CO2 emissions suggests that green technology causes alterations in CO2 emissions, and the association is negative from 1996 to 2003 and from 2012 and 2015; both indications are in sync. CO2 emissions pushed from 2004 to 2010, and CO2 emissions pushed anti-phase connectedness from 2016 to 2019. The inconsistency between green technologies and renewable energy use shows that changes in renewable energy consumption are caused by green technology. The relationship is negative from 1996 to 2003, while renewable energy utilization is in step with green technologies pushing from 2011 to 2019. Novel findings in Vietnam in this paper is vital for policymakers to design policies to promote the use of green technologies toward environmental sustainability.

Dynamic interrelations between environmental innovations, human capital, and energy security in Vietnam: new evidence from an extended TVP-VAR approach

This study employs an extended joint connectedness approach, as well as a time-varying parameter vector autoregression technique (ETVP-VAR), to characterize the interrelationships among six factors, namely, renewable energy, environmental innovations (EI), gross domestic product (GDP), human capital, energy consumption, and energy productivity (EP), from 1995 to 2019 in Vietnam. Taking a holistic view, it appears that both energy consumption and GDP are net recipients of contagion shocks. In addition, renewable energy, as well as environmental innovations, is critical net transmitters during our studied period. From 1995 to 2003, human capital constantly acted as a crucial net shock absorber before switching to a crucial net transmitter after that year. With a significant exception around 1997, this variable is mostly a shock transmitter when it comes to energy production. Pairwise connectedness reveals that renewable energy consistently appears as a shock transmitter to GDP, human capital, energy consumption, and energy productivity. That being said, environmental innovations consistently contribute to renewable and green energy volatility by transmitting shocks from other markets.

Assessing sustainable development in E-7 countries: technology innovation, and energy consumption drivers of green growth and environment

To combat climate change, a country needs to take part in the development of energy sources and the renovation of its energy infrastructure. Since, green energy production is frequently costly and dangerous, especially in its early stages, capital is one of the barriers to the energy revolution. The aims of the study to analyze the non-linear relationship between energy consumption, financial development, and technology innovation on green economic growth, and environmental pollution indicators including ecological footprint and carbon dioxide emission in the E-7 countries over the period of 1995 to 2022. Using a new panel non-linear autoregressive distribution model (NLPARDL) approach, the results confirm that carbon dioxide emissions, green economic growth, and ecological footprint have a positive and strong long-term correlation with the positive component of the energy use. Conversely, negative shocks are negative and significant with ecological footprint but positive and significant with carbon dioxide emissions and green economic growth. Furthermore, financial development has a positive and substantial relationship with ecological footprint in addition to having a long-term negative and large impact on carbon dioxide emissions and a negative but small impact on green economic growth in a positive shock. Similar to this, financial development negative shock coefficients are significant and negative over the long term when it comes to carbon dioxide emissions and green economic growth, and they are positively significant when it comes to ecological footprint negative component. In the meantime, the long-term positive shock of technology innovation has a negative significant correlation with ecological footprint, ecological footprint a positive and negligible correlation with green economic growth, and a positive and significant correlation with carbon dioxide emission. Similarly, technology innovation long-term negative shock coefficients for carbon dioxide emissions and green economic growth are both negative and significant; on the other hand, technology innovations long-term negative shock coefficients for the negative component of ecological footprint are positively significant. Based on the results, E-7 nations need to invest in projects that utilize energy and technology innovation to reduce environmental degradation and boost green economic growth, such as investing in energy projects and reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. The findings also suggest that to achieve the sustainable growth and environment, E7 countries must enhance the environment related technology innovations.

Balancing growth and sustainability: COP 28 policy implications of green energy, industrialization, foreign direct investment, and globalization in South Asia

This research investigates the intricate relationships between economic variables and how they affect South Asian nation's ability to develop sustainably. Given the growing concerns about climate change and global warming brought on by emissions of greenhouse gases, this study looks into the connection between emissions of CO2, green energy, industrialization, foreign direct investment, economic globalization, and financial development from 1995 to 2022. Second-generation panel techniques were employed in this study to look at the relationship between variables because of the potential of residual cross-sectional dependency and heterogeneity. The empirical outcomes display that green energy, economic globalization, and financial development reduce CO2 emissions by 1.839%, 1.223%, and 3.902% respectively. Industrialization and foreign direct investment degrade the environment by 4.302% and 1.893% respectively. A bidirectional causality link between green energy, industrialization, economic globalization, and CO2 emissions was found by Dumitrescu and Hurlin (D-H). Based on our findings, we recommend legislative support for renewable energy, cleaner technologies, and strict environmental regulations, aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Encouraging FDI, sustainable practices, and financial development can drive economic growth while preserving the environment. As we approach COP28, this holistic approach to sustainable development becomes increasingly vital for South Asian countries to achieve their SDG targets and combat climate change.

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.

The impact of green innovation and renewable energy on CO2 emissions in G7 nations

This study aims to explore the effect of eco-innovation and renewable energy on carbon dioxide emissions (CDE) for G7 countries. Using regression models, the results reveal that eco-innovation and renewable energy lead to reducing CDE in the presence of governance variables. Additional analysis is conducted to examine whether Hofstede national culture dimensions moderate the nexus of "eco-innovation- carbon emission" and "renewable energy-carbon emission". The results show that individualism, long-term orientation, and indulgence dimensions moderate positively the eco-innovation-carbon emission relationship. Moreover, power distance and uncertainty avoidance dimensions moderate the relationship between renewable energy and CDE and help reduce carbon emissions. The outcomes of this study provide new insights and directives for policymakers and regulators. In fact, increased investment in eco-innovation and renewable energy will support the environmental agenda of G7 countries. National cultural dimensions should be taken into consideration to improve awareness of environmental quality. Moreover, the combination of governance indicators plays a key role in environmental sustainability.

Technical innovation, renewable energy consumption, and CO2 emissions in the USA: a cross-quantile approach

This study investigates whether technological innovation and the consumption of renewable energy tend to reduce the emissions of CO2 in the USA by analyzing datasets from January 2010 to May 2022. The main contribution to this study is that we applied a cross-quantile approach, which possesses several strengths compared to other methods used for directional predictability. The empirical results of this research can be concluded as three points: (1) both the consumption of renewable energy and technological innovation significantly and negatively impacted the emissions of CO2 in the short run (i.e., 1 month) across high quantiles, which gradually diminished over time (i.e., 3 months, 12 months, and 24 months), implying that technological innovation and the consumption of renewable energy possess a short-lived effect on CO2 emissions, respectively; (2) this relationship remains significant for causal links spanning 1 and 3 months and 1 and 2 years when the consumption of renewable energy and technological innovation are treated as control variables respectively; (3) a recursive cross-quantilogram was constructed to support further our findings, which showed that the consumption of renewable energy and technological innovation tend to negatively impact the emissions of CO2 across all quantiles. These results imply that an increase in the consumption of renewable energy and technological innovation can curb CO2 emissions in the USA; these effects tend to be more lasting when technological innovation and the consumption of renewable energy are combined. Therefore, future policies focused on curbing the emissions of CO2 should pay attention to the combined effect, which is the promotion of technological innovation and the exploitation of renewable energy sources in the USA.

Innovation driver and county air pollution: cost-benefit analysis perspective

Innovation is the first power to drive the county's green and low-carbon. It is crucial to explore the impact of innovation on air pollution from the perspective of counties at the bottom of the administrative division hierarchy. The article is aimed at exploring the direct impact effects, spatial spillover effects, impact mechanism pathways, non-linear relationships, and cost-benefits of innovation drive on air pollution in counties. To this end, based on the collection of county-level data from 2007 to 2020 in mainland China, the article constructs a fixed-effects model, a dynamic panel model, and a spatial Durbin model for analysis. For every 1% increase in the quantity of innovation, the county SO2 emission concentration decreases by 0.2% on average; for every 1% increase in the quality of innovation, the county SO2 emission concentration decreases by 0.3% on average. When the county innovation quantity driver increases by one standard deviation, the county SO2 concentration decreases by an average of 0.29%; when the county innovation quality driver each standard deviation increases, the county SO2 concentration is reduced by 0.33% on average. The significant entry of high-end factors, the increased frequency of regulation by the environmental protection department, and the increasing efficiency of energy use are the important mechanism pathways for innovation-driven reduction of air pollution in counties. There is no significant "(inverted) U-shaped" relationship between innovation-driven air pollution in the county samples. There is a negative spatial spillover effect of the innovation quality drive on air pollution control in all Chinese county samples. Innovation to drive the declining size of the county's sulfur dioxide can bring about one billion yuan (about 139.81 million U.S. dollars) in comprehensive economic benefits. In the coming period, county governments should build a new pattern of "blue sky and white clouds" with neighboring regions in terms of spatial agglomeration of high-end elements, green transformation and utilization of energy, and intelligent monitoring and supervision of pollution.

Global value chains participation and trade-embodied net carbon exports in group of seven and emerging seven countries

A vast literature has examined the empirical link between gross exports and total carbon emissions for different country groups. However, countries' increasing participation in global value chains (GVCs) challenges this traditional approach since the gross measures neglect trade-embodied carbon emissions and intermediates-driven value-added trade. Therefore, this study scrutinizes how backward participation (foreign contents in domestic exports) and forward participation (domestic contents in foreign exports) in GVCs affect per capita net exports of trade-embodied carbon dioxide emissions. The study adopts input-output accounting and value-added decomposition framework for Group of Seven (G7) and Emerging Seven (E7) countries over the 1995-2018 period. (i) Pre-estimation analyses reveal that the net carbon importer G7 group had a comparative advantage in high-tech exports and a lower export product concentration level, while the net carbon exporter E7 group had a comparative advantage in resource-intensive exports and a higher export product concentration level, albeit significant within-group heterogeneities. (ii) The augmented mean group estimates reveal that increasing backward participation raises net carbon exports for both G7 and E7. The forward participation-net carbon exports nexus is negative for G7 but positive for E7. (iii) While economic growth reduces net carbon exports in both groups, the effects of comparative advantages in resource-intensive and high-tech exports differ. Practitioners should be aware of the GVCs-driven carbon circle when assessing decarbonization performances and obligations of countries.

An empirical examination of the environmental sustainability-influencing mechanisms of renewable energy: contextual evidence from Next Eleven countries

Recognizing the environmental development-related commitments made by the Next Eleven countries at 26th Conference of Parties (COP26), this study scrutinizes the repercussions accompanying good democratic governance, renewable energy transition, economic growth, and the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol on carbon emission figures of these emerging nations. In this regard, the period of analysis considered spans from 1990 to 2018 while the econometric analyses involve application of both parametric and non-parametric panel data estimators. Among the key findings, firstly, the outcomes from the parametric estimation methods verify that establishing better democratic governance and undergoing renewable energy transition, both independently and jointly, curb carbon emission levels, while higher economic growth and the signing of the Kyoto Protocol are responsible for boosting emissions the Next Eleven countries. Secondly, the findings derived using the non-parametric methods reveal a great deal of heterogeneity when compared with the results obtained from the parametric analysis. Notably, better democratic governance is seen to reduce carbon emissions in less and moderately polluted. Next Eleven nations, while renewable energy transition curbs emissions only in the moderately and highly polluted ones. Additionally, these variables jointly inhibit emissions only in the Next Eleven nations that are moderately polluted. Besides, better democratic governance is observed to mediate the renewable energy transition-carbon emissions nexus only for the less-polluted Next Eleven nations, while the environmental impacts of economic growth and the signing of the Kyoto Protocol vary across different emission quantiles. Accordingly, relevant policies are recommended for helping the Next Eleven countries to comply with their pledges made at the COP26.

From growth to sustainability: investigating N-shaped EKC and the role of energy productivity, technological advancement, and human capital in OECD economies

Environmental degradation rates have been on a concerning upward trajectory in recent decades, directly threatening the well-being of global populations. Responding to this urgent matter, scholars have been driven to explore its nuances, particularly emphasizing lowering energy consumption and carbon emissions amidst the growing demands of growing economies. Achieving the targets outlined in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement has also become a priority for many countries. Therefore, this study scrutinizes the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, specifically focusing on the role of energy productivity, technological advancement, and human capital in fostering a sustainable environment across 35 OECD economies from 1990 to 2018. Utilizing three robust econometric techniques, Cross-Sectional Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL), Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), we have drawn insightful conclusions from our data. The analysis substantiates an N-shaped EKC hypothesis relationship between GDP and CO2 emissions, pointing towards an initially increasing, then decreasing, and finally an increasing again trend of emissions with GDP. Furthermore, the long-term projections underscore that energy productivity, technological progression, and human capital formation harm the environment. These findings culminate in a call for governments to orchestrate extensive plans and initiatives. This involves promoting green technologies, renewable energy-based ideas, and comprehensive education and awareness programs. These efforts should span all educational levels, highlighting climate change, sustainable practices, and the need for CO2 reduction, empowering societies to contribute to a sustainable future.

Environmental taxes, eco-innovation, and environmental sustainability in EU member countries

Environmental taxes and renewable energy consumption are becoming central policy instruments in countries especially in European Union (EU) countries to enhance environmental sustainability; however, no attention has been given to eco-innovations in the nexus between environmental taxes and carbon dioxide emission. This study investigates the effect of environmental taxes, innovations, and renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions in 26 EU countries from 2000 to 2020. Panel quantile regression was employed for analysis where the results show that environmental taxes have both positive and negative influence on CO2 emissions across quantiles in different models, whereas renewable energy consumption considerably reduces carbon emissions. Economic growth causes an increase in CO2 emissions; however, the financial progress greatly reduces CO2 emissions. Eco-innovations and its square term have a negative influence on carbon emissions which shows that eco-innovations significantly reduce carbon dioxide emission. The findings have significant implications for public policy in the sample countries, notably in terms of promoting renewable energy sources and transitioning to green growth through eco-innovations in order to achieve environmental sustainability.

The role of eco-innovation, renewable energy consumption, economic risks, globalization, and economic growth in achieving sustainable environment in emerging market economies

In the last two decades, environmental degradation has been a topic of concern. The rising level of CO2 emissions (CO2E) has adversely affected life in the E7 countries, which comprise of Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey. The increased in CO2E is the cause of rising sea levels in the E7 countries. Visibly, E7 nations which are considered as the largest emitters of CO2 are facing the most severe environmental challenges. This study investigates the impact of eco-innovation, economic growth (EG), renewable energy consumption (REC), economic risk (ERI), and globalization on the CO2E, using the Feasible Generalized Lease Squares (FGLS) and Panel Corrected Standard Errors (PCSE) techniques for the period 1995 to 2018. The results indicate an inverted N-shaped relationship between eco-innovation and CO2E. Also, eco-innovation, REC, and economic risk are observed to be significant factors in abating CO2 emissions. On the contrary, globalization and GDP are responsible for rising CO2E in E7 countries. According to empirical estimates, eco-innovation improves the efficiency of carbon emissions, which lowers CO2E. In addition, because they are immune to changes in the price of oil and gas and disruptions brought about by geopolitical events, renewable energy sources can offer countries a more secure energy source than fossil fuels. Alternative energy sources can reasonably cut CO2E while offering a more reliable and secure energy source. Therefore, it is crucial that policies be put in place to cut CO2E by giving priority to environmental innovative policies.

Examining the nonlinear impact of human capital on environmental degradation in N-11 countries: an application of the PSTR approach

The emergence of globalization and human capital has played a crucial role in the economic integration of countries, leading to the growth of the economies and a reduction in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. This study highlights the importance of investing in human capital development to control ecological degradation and promote sustainable economic growth. This paper employs the PSTR method to investigate the threshold impact of GDP, globalization, information communication technology, and energy consumption on CO₂ emissions. The study examines two regimes, with a single threshold to analyze the transition of human capital on these variables. The results reveal that human capital developments play a central role in controlling ecological degradation due to reduced CO₂ emissions. Based on the empirical findings, this research study offers corresponding policy suggestions.

Green finance, renewable energy development, and climate change: evidence from regions of China

In this study, using data from 2010 to 2021, and by utilizing the stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) theory, and system generalized method of moments, the effect of green financing and deployment of renewable energy on carbon dioxide emissions in China and its provinces were analyzed. The results show that green financing reduces environmental pollution at the country level. Moreover, with a 1% increase in renewable energy consumption, carbon dioxide emission can be expected to decrease by 0.103%. It also demonstrates that green financing has a statistically significant coefficient only in provinces located in the eastern and western regions. Chinese policymakers should incentive policies for provinces in the eastern region of China in order to have a cleaner environment. The central region should be under supportive and pressure policies to move faster along the path to sustainable development.