Does financial development reduce environmental degradation? Evidence from a panel study of 129 countries

A different look at the environmental Kuznets curve from the perspective of environmental deterioration and economic policy uncertainty: evidence from fragile countries

Environmental degradation is one of the most significant issues that developing nations confront and needs to be resolved right away in order for them to achieve sustainable development. Government policies are crucial in this situation since emerging nations frequently struggle with the issue of policy ambiguity, which can result in environmental deterioration. In this context, this study investigates how policy uncertainty affects environmental degradation in the five fragile emerging economies known as the Fragile Five-Brazil, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Turkey. Using data from 1996 to 2019, we estimate a Panel Quantile Regression analysis. The empirical findings indicate that economic policy uncertainty and technology innovation increases the environmental degradation whereas environmental degradation is slowed down by financial development and renewable energy consumption. Empirical evidence also confirms the presence of EKC hypothesis in fragile economies. Based on the findings, we suggest both a policy and an environmental framework for achieving sustainable development in fragile economies.

Investigating the role of smart technologies, financial, and environmental innovations in tackling the ecological sustainability: a global pathway toward low carbon energy transition

Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, the rapid development of modern technologies has brought unprecedented social prosperity to mankind as technologies penetrate every sector of the economy. These technologies have given a new dimension to the energy sector. The key purpose of this study is to investigate the crucial impact of technological revolutions, namely, smart grids, smart devices, financial innovations, and environmental innovations, on greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). To this end, the study utilized data from European, Asian, Middle Eastern, and African countries and employed first- and second-generation methods, such as DOLS, FMOLS, and CS-ARDL models. The research shows that smart grids are the only factor in reducing GHGs, regardless of geographic division. Hence, linking smart grid resources to climate change goals requires short-term deployment strategies with a clear long-term vision and the fundamental goal of transforming the power structure into a net zero-emission system. The study also demonstrates that the emergence of ICT in electricity consumption has not yet reached a level that can promote environmental excellence. The study documented the critical role of financial innovation and environmental innovation in addressing environmental degradation.

Evaluating the impact of technological innovation and energy efficiency on load capacity factor: empirical analysis of India

The determinants of environmental degradation have been investigated many times by utilizing carbon dioxide emissions and/or ecological footprint. However, these traditional environmental degradation indicators do not consider the supply side of environmental problems. Therefore, this study focuses on the dynamic influence of financial development, energy efficiency, economic growth, and technological innovation on environmental degradation in India through the load capacity factor, including both the supply and demand sides of environmental problems. For that purpose, the recently developed dynamically simulated autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method is employed using the annual time-series data extending from 1980-2020. The dynamically simulated ARDL results demonstrate that financial development, economic growth, and technological innovation have a dynamic adverse impact on the load capacity factor, whereas energy efficiency has a positive dynamic influence on environmental quality. In addition, the results support the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis as the negative effect of economic growth on environmental quality decreases over time. Based on the study findings, policy recommendations are provided for India. Finally, this study utilizing load capacity factor as an indicator for environmental quality will provide new topics in exploring the determinants of environmental degradation.

Role of technology management for carbon neutrality in Gulf economies: the role of social globalization and financial development

This study is founded on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, particularly SDGs 8, 11, 12, and 13, among others. Investigating the impact of nonrenewable energy, social globalization, financial development, and ICT on CO2 emissions in the Gulf nations, data from 1992 to 2019 was employed using advanced panel methodologies. Both linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag techniques, along with a panel causality approach, were utilized for a comprehensive analysis. These extensive investigations offer robust insights into the ecological sustainability dynamics within the Gulf nations. The empirical findings highlight that positive (negative) shifts in social globalization, economic growth, ICT, and nonrenewable energy correlate with an increase (decrease) in CO2 emissions, while positive (negative) shifts in financial development contribute to a decrease (increase) in CO2 emissions. These results emphasize the need for a policy framework aligned with the SDGs, advocating an inclusive policy framework tailored for the Gulf nations, aiming to drive progress towards achieving SDGs 7, 8, 9, 13, and 16.

How diversification of products impact emissions in China: a provincial perspective

Currently, global warming and air pollution are the world's most urgent issues partly caused by carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions, and prompt actions are needed to address these global concerns. Sustainable development cannot be attained until we reverse the negative impact of economic factors on the quality of the environment. It is noteworthy to offer a new indication on whether and how the empirical liaison between product diversification and environmental degradation evolved in China from 2008 to 2019. Product diversification (PD) is a remedy for reducing environmental degradation (ED). It is a crucial component of energy demand, which a significant impact on reducing energy consumption and ED. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of PD on ED in China using the provincial panel dataset. Employing the fixed effects-Driscoll-Kraay standard errors (FE-DKSE) and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) methods, we discover an inverted U-shaped link between PD and ED. The control variable urbanization (URB) and technological innovation (TI) reduce ED significantly. However, industry value added (IVA) and energy consumption (EC) promote ED. Our results are robust with the addition of various controls in all models. The policy implication from our findings is that, to achieve a target of carbon neutrality, countries should adopt the product diversification strategy.

Time-varying impact of income and fossil fuel consumption on CO2 emissions in India

This paper investigates the time-varying effects of fossil fuel consumption on CO2 emissions in India utilizing the time-varying cointegration test, allowing for multivariate long-run time-varying cointegration parameter developed by Bierens and Martins (2010) and the time-varying vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model developed by Primiceri (2005). The long-run time-varying coefficients reveal that GDP has a positive and increasing impact on CO2 emissions over time. Moreover, results confirm the polluting effects of all fossil fuels. Besides, the TVP-VAR model findings also demonstrate that changes in income and fossil fuel consumption have a positive and significant impact on environmental degradation. Coal is found to be the most polluting fuel, followed by oil consumption. Furthermore, the time-varying responses show that increased natural gas consumption has the least influence when compared to other fossil fuels on CO2 emissions.

From crisis to resilience: strengthening climate action in OECD countries through environmental policy and energy transition

Climate change represents a grave challenge to the global economy, environment, and societal well-being, jeopardizing their long-term sustainability. In response to this urgent issue, the study emphasizes the significance of environmental policy and energy transitions as fundamental factors in addressing the climate change crisis. The research draws upon data from OECD countries spanning the period between 1990 and 2020, utilizing robust econometric techniques to assess data properties. The study utilizes a comprehensive CS-ARDL model, incorporating multiple control variables like non-renewable energy GDP, foreign direct investment (FDI), and research and development (R&D). The results show that environmental policy and energy transitions are effective in reducing climate change impacts in the form of CO2 emissions. The non-environmental factors like GDP and FDI are positively associated and thereby accelerate climate change processes, whereas R&D promotes environmental protection by reducing CO2 emissions. Based on these findings, the study advocates for the implementation of rigorous policy measures by OECD economies to strengthen and enforce environmental policies to ensure compliance and foster sustainable practices across sectors. The study also suggests that OECD must promote energy transitions by investing in renewable energy sources at the mass level (micro and macro) and phasing out reliance on non-renewable energy.

Examining the Energy-Environmental Kuznets Curve in OECD Countries Considering their Population

This research aims to examine the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in 37 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the period from 1960 to 2019. Panel Quantile Regressions (QR) show that for the lower quartile, economic growth does not impact emissions; for the central quartile a U-shaped curve emerges; while for the upper quartile, an N-shaped curve is found. In addition, cointegrating regressions highlight that economic growth, fossil fuel consumption, and population exert a detrimental effect on the environment, while renewable energy consumption reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. These results are confirmed by panel causality tests since a feedback mechanism is found between CO2 emissions and the remaining series. Furthermore, single-country estimates provide evidence of great variability in the sample.

In the era of globalization, can renewable energy and eco-innovation be viable for environmental sustainability in BRICS economies?

Although energy is a necessary component of production and hence a contaminant, the environmental effect varies depending on the type of energy used. Renewable sources of energy can provide ecological advantages, particularly when contrasted with fossil fuels, which emit high levels of CO2 emissions. Thus, the research explores the impact of eco-innovation (ECO), green energy (REC), and globalization (GLOB) on the ecological footprint (ECF) in the BRICS nations using the panel nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (PNARDL) technique between 1990 and 2018. The empirical results indicate that there is cointegration in the model. The results from the PNARDL show that a positive shift in renewable energy, eco-innovation, and globalization decreases the ecological footprint, while positive (negative) shifts in non-renewable energy and economic growth intensify the ecological footprint. The paper suggests several policy recommendations based on these results.

Green finance, energy consumption, urbanization, and economic growth: Quantile based evidence from China

This study investigates the relationships between energy consumption, urbanization, green finance, and economic growth in China. By utilizing the quantile ARDL model and considering labor and capital as input factors, we analyze the period from 1999 to 2022. Our findings reveal that green finance and urbanization have negative effects on economic growth across different quantiles, in both the short and long run. Conversely, energy consumption exhibits a significantly positive impact on growth in various quantiles. Policymakers are encouraged to implement sustainable energy measures, promote eco-friendly urban planning, and embrace green technology to achieve both economic growth and environmental sustainability.

Has the digital economy improved the ecological environment? Empirical evidence from China

The main objectives of this study incorporate the ecological environment index (ENV) and the digital economy index (DIG) into the environmental Kuznets (EKC) model and examine the income effects, scale effects, structural effects, technology effects, and government expenditures on the ecological environment, collating panel data for 31 provincial administrative regions in China over the period 2011-2019. The panel entropy value method was first applied to calculate the ecological environment index (ENV) and the digital economy composite index (DIG). Secondly, a threshold effect test is conducted with the digital economy as the threshold variable, and it is found that there are two threshold values in the model. From the threshold regression results, the impact of the digital economy on the ecological environment shows a positive "U" shape. At this stage, except for individual years in each province, most of the provinces are in the second half of the positive "U" curve. The coefficients of the income effect and scale effect are not significant, while the coefficients of structural effect and technology effect and government expenditure are significantly positive. From the results of the study, it is clear that the digital economy has a significant contribution to the improvement of the ecological environment in China at this stage. Policymakers should go further to promote the development of the digital economy while encouraging regional industrial structure optimization and increasing technological input support to ensure that the environment and economic development are coordinated in the digital economy era.

Modelling the asymmetric effects of renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions in India: Empirical findings from the NARDL and Wavelet Coherence Approach

A major challenge for humans in the twenty-first century is devising a way to minimize environmental pollution while fostering economic growth that will not deplete the planet's resources. Despite increased awareness of climate change and efforts to combat it, the amount of pollution emissions on the Earth continues to drop significantly. This study employs cutting-edge econometric methods to examine the long- and short-term asymmetric and causal impacts of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions in India at both aggregate and disaggregated levels. Thus, this work fills a significant gap in research. A time series from 1965 to 2020 was used for this study. Wavelet coherence was employed to investigate causal effects among the variables, while the NARDL model addressed long-run and short-run asymmetry effects. Our findings indicate that (i) REC, NREC, FD, and CO2 emissions are all interconnected in the long run, (ii) NREC and FD significantly trigger CO2 emissions in India in the long run, and (iii) the results of a wavelet coherence-based causality test support the long-term estimates of this study.

Capital flow and environmental quality at crossroads: designing a sustainable policy framework for the newly industrialized countries

It is extremely difficult for emerging economies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in order to close this policy gap, a comprehensive policy framework is needed. The purpose of this research is to determine the proportional impacts of domestic and foreign capital to environmental degradation in newly industrialized nations (NICs). For this reason, panel data methodology is used to evaluate, for the years 1991 to 2018, how the ecological footprint is affected by stock market capitalization, foreign direct investment, economic growth, urbanization, and energy intensity. Using the squared terms of stock market capitalization and foreign direct investment, respectively, it is also looked at whether domestic and foreign capital may have non-linear effects on the environment. According to the empirical findings, whereas local capital growth worsens the environment, increasing international capital prevents environmental degradation. There is an inverted U-shaped link between domestic capital and environmental degradation in the event of non-linearity, but foreign capital has a monotonically declining effect on environmental degradation. The study outcomes are utilized to design a policy framework to address the objectives of SDG 7, SDG 11, and SDG 13.

Does environmental degradation matter for poverty? Clarifying the nexus between FDI, environmental degradation, renewable energy, education, and poverty in Morocco and Tunisia

Poverty is the curse for sustainable and equitable development worldwide by detreating environmental sustainability, economic instability, and inequality. However, as a remedy for poverty reduction, researchers over the past decade have examined the key macro determinants and established positive associations, implying the contributory role in poverty reduction. The study explores the environmental, energy, education, and foreign direct investment (FDI) effects on poverty reduction in Morocco and Tunisia from 1991 to 2020. We employed autoregressive distributed lagged (ARDL) and nonlinear ARDL frameworks to document the explanatory variables' elasticity on poverty reduction in both the long- and short-run horizons. According to linear assessment, the study documented that education, energy, and FDI support poverty reduction. At the same time, the cost of environmental degradation has a detrimental effect on poverty augmentation. Referring to asymmetric assessment, the study established a long-run asymmetric association between asymmetric shocks of education, FDI, and energy with poverty. For directional association, the study has implemented a casualty test with the Fourier TY causality test and revealed a bidirectional association between education and poverty, and energy and poverty. Moreover, the unidirectional casualty was unveiled between FDI and poverty, and poverty and environment.

Does economic fitness matter in carbon emissions mitigation in BRICS countries?

The economic fitness of a country shows its capacity to address complex issues, such as climate change and environmental degradation, which are urgent global concerns. Its key function is given less importance in empirical research and has been neglected by existing empirical studies. Concerning this neglect, our study investigates the influence of economic fitness on CO₂ emissions in the context of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) for the BRICS nations between 1995 and 2015. The Feasible Generalized Least Squares (FGLS) and Panel-Corrected Standard Error (PCSE) techniques are used to estimate the empirical association. The results suggest that economic fitness and CO₂ emissions have an inverted N-shaped relationship. Furthermore, after accounting for major contributing factor of CO₂ emissions like GDP per capita, financial development, urbanization, and foreign direct investment, our robustness checks produce robust and significant results.

The effect of energy prices, energy losses, and renewable energy use on CO2 emissions in energy-importing developing economies in the presence of an environmental Kuznets curve

In this study, energy losses, energy prices, and the relationship between green energy and environmental quality are investigated for 15 energy-importing emerging economies. In addition, the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve is tested in this study. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach based on panel dataset, related intermediate estimators including PMG, MG, and DFE were used as a method. In addition, FMOLS and DOLS estimators were used for robustness testing in the study. According to empirical findings, the environmental Kuznets curve is valid in energy-importing emerging economies. In addition, green energy use and energy prices have a reducing effect on CO₂ emissions. However, energy losses increase CO₂ emissions. While the long-term results of the variables were similar, the short-term results were mixed. This situation is attributed to different economic growths in energy-importing developing economies, the share of energy resources in total energy resources, and energy-efficient technologies in the energy field. The fact that these variables have never been investigated for this economy group makes the study different.

Green growth and environmental quality in top polluted economies: the evolving role of financial institutions and markets

An efficient financial system is crucial for the attainment of green growth and superior environmental quality. Therefore, our focus in this analysis is to estimate the effect of financial institutions and markets on green growth and environmental quality in highly polluted economies from 1991 to 2019. Estimates of the variables are collected with the help of the ARDL bounds testing approach. Findings of the ARDL model imply that a financial institution's efficiency helps improve green growth in the USA, China, and Japan in the long-run. However, the efficiency of the financial markets causes the green economy to grow in the long run in China and Russia only. On the other side, in the CO₂ model, the long-run estimated coefficients of a financial institution's efficiency are negatively significant in Japan and China only, implying that a financial institution's efficiency significantly reduces CO₂ emissions. Similarly, the long-run estimates of financial markets are significantly negative in the context of China and Japan only in CO₂ emissions.

Role of country risks and renewable energy consumption on environmental quality: Evidence from MINT countries

This study focuses on uncovering the effect of country risks and renewable energy consumption on environmental quality. In this context, the study examines Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey (MINT) nations; takes economic growth, trade openness, and urbanization into account; includes data from 1990 to 2018; applies cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) as the main model while common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) and augmented mean group (AMG) for robustness checks. The empirical results show that (i) economic growth, political risk, urbanization, and trade openness contribute to an increase in ecological footprint; (ii) economic and financial risks as well as renewable energy use have a positive influence on environmental quality; (iii) a unidirectional causality exists from economic risk, financial risk, political risk, economic growth, urbanization, and trade openness to the ecological footprint: (iv) the validity of the EKC hypothesis for the MINT economies is verified; (v) the robustness of CS-ARDL results are validated by CCEMG and AMG approaches. Based on these results, policymakers should promote a sustainable environment to lessen the ecological footprint. Additionally, governments should firmly support investments in green technology as well as economic and financial stability to boost energy efficiency and promote the adoption and usage of energy-saving products.

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.

Investigation of the effect of human capital on environmental pollution: empirical evidence from Turkey

Reducing environmental pollution is a highly important issue that must be resolved globally. Improving human capital (HC) can significantly contribute to lowering environmental pollution. Using the Fourier ADL (FADL) method, this study examines the long-term effect of HC on carbon emissions (CO₂ emissions) and ecological footprint (EF) in Turkey from 1980 to 2018. In addition, the study examined the long-term effects of economic growth (GDP), financial development (FD), and globalization (KOF) on CO₂ emissions and EF. According to empirical results, HC has a negative effect on both CO₂ emissions and EF. Furthermore, the findings indicate that GDP and FD have a positive effect on CO₂ emissions and EF, whereas KOF has no statistically significant effect on CO₂ emissions and negative EF. According to the FFFF-TY causality test results, there is bidirectional causality between FD and EF and a unidirectional causality from HC to EF and from EF to KOF. This study underlines the importance of human capital in improving environmental quality in Turkey. In this context, the results of this study will assist policy makers in the development of precise policies to enhance human capital in order to improve environmental quality.

Nonlinear Relationship between Financial Development and CO2 Emissions-Based on a PSTR Model

The contradiction between financial development and environmental pollution has become increasingly prominent with economic development. The discovery of the link between financial development and carbon dioxide emissions will aid in the development of solutions to this problem. This paper uses a panel smooth transition regression (PSTR) model to examine the impact of financial development on carbon dioxide emissions using panel data from 28 Chinese provinces from 2005 to 2021. The PSTR model can solve the problem of minimizing potential outliers ignored in the previous literature, while taking into account the endogeneity and heterogeneity of the model and obtaining more reliable results. According to the findings, financial development has a nonlinear effect on carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, the positive effect of financial development on carbon dioxide emissions occurs via the scale and structural effects, while the negative effect occurs via the technological effect, which takes up more space. Moreover, financial added value and the financial scale demonstrate a smooth transition, while financial efficiency and foreign direct investment demonstrate a positive influence.

Going green in China: how does digital finance affect environmental pollution? Mechanism discussion and empirical test

With the continuous advancement of the technological revolution and industrial transformation, environmental governance supported by digital finance has become an important engine for achieving carbon neutrality. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China, this study discusses the spatial spillover effect and transmission mechanism between digital finance and environmental pollution. Our research results confirm that the inhibitory effect of digital finance on local environmental pollution gradually increases with the improvement of digital finance. Interestingly, digital finance has a significant positive spatial spillover effect on environmental pollution in surrounding areas. The mediating effect shows that digital finance can alleviate environmental pollution by improving technological innovation, industrial upgrading and industrial structure rationalization. A higher degree of marketization and governmental support can increase the positive influences of digital finance on pollution reduction. This research proves the effectiveness of digital finance in improving environmental governance, and it encourages policy-makers around the world to rely on digital finance to promote ecological governance and achieve high-quality economic development.

Exploring the nature of EKC hypothesis in Asia's top emitters: role of human capital, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption

The present study uses both carbon dioxide emission and ecological footprints as proxies for environmental degradation to examine the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for the top three emitters from Asia, i.e., China, India, and Japan. To this end, the autoregressive distributed lag model for time series and panel estimation is used for a period spanning over 1980-2016. For carbon dioxide emission, China presents an inverted-U shape of the environmental Kuznets curve, while a U-shape relationship is found for India and Japan. Similarly, when the hypothesis is tested with the ecological footprint, Japan offers an inverted U-shape and U-shaped association is detected for China and India. The panel analysis indicates the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve with both proxies of environmental degradation. Besides, human capital and renewable energy promote environmental sustainability, while non-renewable energy use hinders environmental quality. The findings of this study suggest that in order to meet the combined goals of economic growth and environmental protection, the three economies, i.e., China, India, and Japan, should employ renewable energy-enabled technology.

Revisiting the relationship between remittances and CO2 emissions by applying a novel dynamic simulated ARDL: empirical evidence from G-20 economies

The current study looks at the causes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions by considering the implications of remittances in the presence of economic growth, financial development, and energy consumption in the case of selected four G-20 economies over the period 1990-2019. This study first uses the dynamic simulated ARDL model to stimulate, estimate, and plot to predict graphs of negative and positive changes occurring in the variables along with their short-run and long-run relationships. Results of the ARDL bounds test confirm a long-term relationship among remittances, financial development, economic growth energy consumption, and CO₂ emissions. Furthermore, the error correction model (ECM) also confirms the long-run relationship among CO₂ emissions, remittances, financial development, economic growth, and energy use. The results of a novel dynamic simulated ARDL disclosed that financial development is completely connected to CO₂ emissions in Mexico and India in the long run. On the other hand, results confirm that there is a positive relationship between remittances and CO₂ emissions in the case of Australia, Germany, and India, but this relationship is insignificant with CO₂ emissions in the case of Mexico. The result further disclosed that renewable energy exerts a significant impact on CO₂ in Australia, Mexico, India, and Germany in the long run while remittances wield a significant impact on CO₂ emissions in Australia, Mexico, and India. Moreover, the findings concluded that GDP has significant nexus with CO₂ in the long run in the case of Australia, Mexico, and Germany. This study uses up new visions for the economies of G-20 countries to sustain financial and economic growth by protecting the environment from pollution through its efficient national environmental policy, fiscal policy, and monetary policy.

Bibliometric analysis of finance and natural resources: past trend, current development, and future prospects

The finance and natural resources revenue nexus play a critical role in an economy. The recent development and significant increase in academic literature regarding the resource-finance nexus are the primary motivations for conducting this study. This study aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis of 363 documents published between 1976 and 2021 collected from the Scopus database. The results have been demonstrated via graphs, tables, knowledge maps about the past trends, growth, and prospects using co-occurrence, co-authorship, and co-citation analysis via the VOSviewer tool. This study has identified prolific authors, journals, countries, academic institutions, and future pathways. The findings indicate that China has the highest share of publications (88, 24.2%), followed by Pakistan (58, 15.9%) and Turkey (37, 10.2%). The most productive academic institution is the Beijing Institute of Technology in China (13, 3.6%). This study proposes new avenues for further research concerning the resource-finance nexus, such as ecological footprint, sustainability, fiscal decentralization, green investment, energy prices, environmental quality, technological innovation, financial resource curse (especially the stock market resource curse), human capital, and renewable energy in policy development and sustainability towards the achievement of the SDGs.

Implicit Environmental Injustice in Global Trade: Based on the MRIO Model

To answer these questions in light of the MRIO model, this paper presents a study of environmental injustice affecting the global economy. Practical ideas and lifespan measurements are often used in studies of the embodied carbon industry. The input-output table method is an important method for industrial embodied carbon research, which can be divided into the regional input-output table method, bilateral input-output table method, and multiregional input-output table method. Bilateral and multistakeholder consultations are more accurate than regional proposals. Therefore, when studying the carbon industry implied by the two countries, the input-output table of the two countries is usually used, and the multilateral input-output table is more reliable for determining the input-output calculation. Therefore, when studying local problems, it is advisable to adopt a variety of display strategies. The results show that in 2010, the carbon content of the carbon industry was 26,593 thousand tons, down 34.6% from 17,383 thousand tons in 2011, calculated at 2%. From 2012 to 2018, the carbon content grew from 31,051 tons in 2014 to 84,248 tons in 2018, with an average annual increase rate of 18%. The experimental results show that there is a large incidence of carbon emissions in the bilateral trade between China, the United States, and Japan. The expansion of export industries is the main reason for the increase in carbon emissions between the two industries. The role of technology has narrowed this difference to some extent.

Nexus Between Financial Development, Renewable Energy Investment, and Sustainable Development: Role of Technical Innovations and Industrial Structure

Significant challenges confronting China include reducing carbon emissions, dealing with the resulting problems, and meeting various requirements for long-term economic growth. As a result, the shift in industrial structure best reflects how human society utilizes resources and impacts the environment. To meet China's 2050 net-zero emissions target, we look at how technological innovations, financial development, renewable energy investment, population age, and the economic complexity index all play a role in environmental sustainability in China. Analyzing short- and long-term relationships using ARDL bounds testing, we used historical data spanning 1990–2018. According to the study's findings, the cointegration between CO₂ emissions and their underlying factors was found. The deterioration of the environment directly results from financial development, increasing economic complexity, and population aging. Technical advancements, investments in renewable energy sources, and changes to the industrial structure all contribute to lower CO₂ emissions. Granger causality results were also reliably obtained in this study. According to our findings in the fight against environmental problems, a key tool for meeting long-term sustainability goals is policy prescriptions that use technological innovations, renewable energy investment, and industrial structure.

Keeping an eye on environmental quality in Tanzania as trade, industrialization, income, and urbanization continue to grow

By applying the ARDL (autoregressive distributed lag) bounds testing method, this study examines the short- and long-term dynamic relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, economic growth (gross domestic product), industrialization, trade, and urban population in Tanzania from 1990 to 2020. The study found that economic growth, trade, industrialization, and the urban population all contributed to the increase in environmental degradation (i.e., carbon dioxide emissions). However, we found that financial credit (i.e., domestic credit to the private sector) reduces carbon dioxide emissions, and its effects are significant in EKC (environmental Kuznets curve) model. Our findings revealed that economic growth (i.e., income) was responsible for both short- and long-term increases in carbon dioxide emissions in Tanzania. Economic growth is harmful to the environmental quality above a threshold value of 6.23%. Furthermore, the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is confirmed for Tanzania. Our findings suggest that policymakers should monitor and use the threshold levels to manage carbon dioxide emissions and to protect the environmental quality. Further, a strong focus should be placed on formulating environmental policies (i.e., carbon tax policy) as industrialization, urban population, economic growth, and trade continue to grow in future, restricting carbon dioxide emissions and safeguarding the environment.

The nexus of financial development, technological innovation, institutional quality, and environmental quality: evidence from OECD economies

The present study investigates the effect of institution quality, technological innovation, and financial development on environment quality using 37 OECD nations from 1998 to 2018. The cross-sectional dependence (CD) and Lagrange multiplier (LM) techniques are used to measure the cross-sectional dependence. The second-generation panel unit root tests and panel cointegration tests are applied to examine the unit-root properties and long-run association existence between variables. Finally, we employed the two-step (SYS-GMM) methodology to estimate the coefficient values. The findings showed that financial development has a positive effect on selected carbon (CO2) emission dimensions. When the moderating term is introduced, it was identified that institutional quality and technology innovation conditioning effects are crucial between financial development and CO2 emission. Our evidence-based study provides significant results for technology innovation and institutional quality moderating role in reducing CO2 emissions in OECD economies. Our findings are also robust to alternative measures, which could be useful for policymakers to formulate long-term and short-term strategies and policies for a better sustainable environment.

How does financial development alleviate pollutant emissions in China? A spatial regression analysis

Assessing the environmental effects of financial development has an important theoretical and practical reference for the government to achieve the goal of sustainable development. Financial development is affected dramatically by the real economy and typically shows nonlinear characteristics. This study aims to investigate the nonlinearity between financial development and pollutant emissions while considering the various stages of financial development among regions. Also, the spatial transmission mechanism between financial development and pollutant emissions is analyzed theoretically. Industrial sulfur dioxide ([Formula: see text]) and solid waste (SW) emissions are used to quantify pollutant emissions in China. The results show a positive spatial spillover effect on pollutant emissions across various regions. Moreover, a region's pollutant emissions can be influenced by the financial development of its surrounding regions, suggesting that financial development reduces [Formula: see text] emissions in a particular region, but it significantly increases [Formula: see text] emissions in surrounding regions, indicating a strong spillover effect. However, financial development significantly decreases SW emissions of a particular region but does not exert a significant impact on its surrounding regions, implying a weak spillover effect. Our results reveal that whereas the relationship of financial development with [Formula: see text] and SW emissions shows a significant U-shaped pattern, that of economic growth exhibit a significant inverted U-shaped pattern. The investigation can help in designing appropriate environmental policies for promoting financial development.

Identifying the Key Driving Factors of Carbon Emissions in ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ Countries

The ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (B&R) countries play a key role in mitigating global carbon emissions, but their driving factors behind carbon emissions remain unclear. This paper aimed to identify the key driving factors (KDFs) of carbon emissions in the B&R countries based on the extended STIRPAT (stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology) model. The empirical results showed that: (1) Population and GDP per capita were the KDFs that promoted carbon emission, while energy intensity improvement and renewable energy were the KDFs that inhibited carbon emissions. Urbanization, another KDF, had a dual impact across countries. (2) The KDFs varied across the B&R countries. For the high-income group (HI), population had the greatest impact. It was identified as the KDF promoting carbon emission, while for the other three income groups, GDP per capita, as the dominant factor, was identified as the KDF promoting carbon emission. (3) Moreover, two interesting trends were found, namely, the higher the income, the greater the impact of energy intensity while the lower the impact of GDP per capita. These results could provide guidance for carbon reduction in the B&R countries.

Environmental degradation and sustainable development of economies: empirical evidence on economic performance

The present paper aims to analyze the influence of environmental practices over the sustainable development of economies which create economic resilience for the economies classified according to different income levels. The authors aim to assess the impact of high environmental degradation (HED) on GDP growth volatility and GDP growth for economies over the long term and short term for the period of 1955-2020 in 124 countries. The findings of empirical analysis conclude that HED economies will have high growth in the long term than their counterparts. The economies of HED have a significant mean difference in volatility with their counterpart control group that implies HED economies have low volatility than the control group. Economies with HED have higher financial development relative to their control economies. The empirical analysis of robustness checks shows that economies with HED have low volatility in GDP and higher growth rates. HED economies enjoy high and sustainable financial development and high gross fixed capital formation, which signifies a high level of investment in their economy than their control counterpart.

The interrelationships among financial development, economic growth and environmental sustainability: evidence from Ghana

A well established and developed financial system encourages savings and investment which stimulates economic growth. However, the link between financial development and the environment is ambiguous. In general, the role that the environment plays in the finance-growth nexus has received less attention, to the best of our knowledge. Against this backdrop, this study aims to examine the interrelationships among economic growth, financial development and carbon dioxide emissions for Ghana over the period of 1971-2018. To correct for a possible endogeneity problem, the three-stage least-square (3SLS) technique was employed. The results revealed that there is a bidirectional relationship between financial development and economic growth; and a unidirectional relationship from financial development to carbon dioxide emission. However, carbon dioxide emission has a neutral effect on economic growth and financial development. Economic growth exhibits an inverted U-shaped relationship with carbon dioxide emission, confirming the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in Ghana. Policymakers should consider the critical roles of financial development in achieving environmentally friendly growth in Ghana.

Sustainability challenges in Peru: embossing the role of economic integration and financial development-application of novel dynamic ARDL simulation

Inspired by the commitment to address the environmental challenges in Peru under the UN Sustainable Development Goals 13 (Climate Action) and its implications by 2030, therefore, this study investigates the combined role of economic globalization, financial development, and fossil fuel intensity consumption using a combination of dynamic ARDL counterfactual simulation and kernel-based regularized least squares within the context of Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology over the period 1971-2017. This research output confirms the inverted-U-shaped hypothesis between economic growth and carbon emissions. In contrast, the kernel-based regularized least squares confirms the scale effect and fossil curse hypothesis in the relationship between financial development and carbon emission, and heterogeneous effects in economic integration and carbon emission. We further document that financial development, fossil fuel consumption, urban population, affluence (economic growth), and government final consumption expenditure spur environmental pollution while economic integration reduces it. This study recommends Peru to instill environmental justice through regulations and policies restricting inflows into an exploration of environmentally unsustainable projects within Peruvian metropolises or in the Peruvian Amazon. There is a need to revisit finance and investment laws and increase investment in low-carbon infrastructure within Peru.

Heterogeneous impacts of financial development on carbon emissions: evidence from China's provincial data

The effect of financial development on carbon emissions is a hot topic. Although some researches study the heterogeneous impacts of financial development on carbon emissions at the country level, few paper has investigated their heterogeneous relations within the same country. This paper, applying geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR), studies the spatial-temporal heterogeneity of the impacts of financial development on carbon emissions across China's 30 provinces from 2003 to 2017. The results show that financial development proxied by bank credit indicators curbs carbon emissions in most provinces most of the time, while that proxied by stock market indicator exhibits nonlinear relationships in most provinces, such as U-shaped, inverse U-shaped, and inverse N-shaped. The paper concludes first that financial development proxied by different indicators may exert varied impacts on carbon emissions. Second, the impact of financial development on carbon emissions shows great heterogeneity among different provinces and different years: it may be curbing or increasing, and even it is curbing, its curbing effects differ greatly across provinces and years. Third, the impact of financial development on CO2 is not always monotonic; instead, it may be nonlinear. Regional segmentation of financial markets may explain the heterogeneity. Some policy suggestions are also given.

The impact of financial development on CO2 emissions: new evidence from developed and emerging countries

Taking into account the complicated and multidimensional nature of financial development, this study aims to investigate the impact of overall financial market development, institution development, and their sub-indices on CO₂ emissions. To advance knowledge about the nexus between financial development and CO₂ emissions, four financial market indices (overall financial market development, FM-access, FM-depth, and FM-efficiency) and four financial institution indices (overall financial institution development, FI-access, FI-depth, and FI-efficiency) are used. The study used two-stage system GMM and panel data of developed and emerging countries over the period 2000-2018. The empirical results reveal that the overall financial market development and its sub-indices (FM-access, FM-depth, and FM-efficiency) reduce CO₂ emissions in developed and emerging countries. The results further show that the overall financial institution development and its sub-indices such as FI-access, FI-depth, and FI-efficiency foster the environment quality in developed economies, while these indices impede the environmental quality in emerging economies. The usage of renewable energy is found to be a viable solution to mitigate the CO₂ emissions in both groups of countries. Additionally, policies related to sustainable development are also discussed in the paper.

Sustainable Financial Development: Does It Matter for Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

As the detrimental effect of greenhouse gas emissions becomes increasingly significant, it has been a worldwide concern. As a result, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of sustainable financial development on greenhouse gas emissions via heterogeneous technological progress, using 162 countries as a sample. Empirical assessment is conducted using panel data from 2000 to 2019 and the mediation effect model as well as the country and year fixed-effect model. The findings are shown as follows: (1) Greenhouse gas emissions are increased as a result of sustainable financial development. (2) Environmental technology progress and technology choice progress have a dilution effect. Together, they have the ability to lower the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by sustainable financial development. However, these two dilution effects do not completely cut down on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that come from global sustainable financial development, even though they do help. (3) The direct and indirect effects of sustainable financial development on greenhouse gas emissions are heterogeneous among countries with different income levels. Through technological progress, sustainable financial development in middle-income countries significantly cuts greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable financial development, on the other hand, increases greenhouse gas emissions in both high- and low-income countries, although there are distinctions between them. (4) Environmental technology progress in high-income countries has a dilution effect. Meanwhile, technological choice and progress in low-income countries have a mediating effect on greenhouse gas emissions. To conclude, the evidence provided in this paper may provide some potential solutions to the issue of greenhouse gas emissions, and also enrich the existing literature.

The spillover of tourism development on CO2 emissions: a spatial econometric analysis

Climate change and tourism's interaction and vulnerability have been among the most hotly debated topics recently. In this context, the study focuses on how CO2 emissions, the primary cause of global warming and climate change, respond to changes in tourism development. In order to do so, the impact of tourism development on CO2 emissions in the most visited countries is investigated. A panel data from 2000 to 2017 for top 70 tourist countries are analysed using a spatial econometric method to investigate the spatial effect of tourism on environmental pollution. The direct, indirect, and overall impact of tourism on CO2 emissions are estimated using the most appropriate generalized nested spatial econometric (GNS) method. The findings reveal that tourism has a positive direct effect and a negative indirect effect; both are significant at the 1% level. The negative indirect effect of tourism is greater than its direct positive effect, implying an overall significantly negative impact. Further, the outcome of financial development and CO2 emissions have an inverted U-shaped and U-shaped relationship in direct and indirect impacts. Population density, trade openness, and economic growth significantly influence environmental pollution. In addition, education expenditure and infrastructure play a significant moderating role among tourism and environmental pollution. The results have important policy implications as they establish an inverted-U-shaped relationship among tourism and CO2 emissions and indicate that while a country's emissions initially rise with the tourism industry's growth, it begins declining after a limit.

Environmental costs of political instability in Pakistan: policy options for clean energy consumption and environment

Using time series data of Pakistan from 1990 to 2019, this study explores the asymmetric effects of political instability on clean energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. The results from the traditional ARDL model show that political stability lessens environmental damage by reducing CO₂ emissions in the long run. However, when we used the nonlinear ARDL approach, we found that political instability not only reduces the consumption of clean energy but also leads to damage environmental quality in the long run in Pakistan,while political stability not only increases the consumption of clean energy but also helps improve environmental quality in the short run in Pakistan. Thus, macroeconomic policies to promote expansion in clean energy consumption will directly stimulate green economic growth and environmental quality.

The environmental Kuznets curve for Turkish provinces: a spatial panel data approach

This paper aims to test the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis using SO2 measurements in Turkish provinces between 2004 and 2019. The existing studies concerning the EKC hypothesis for Turkey either use a country-level analysis or panel data techniques covering provincial data that do not account for the spatial dimension. To account for the spatial dependence and overcome the biases resulting from the existence of such spatial spillovers, this paper combines the traditional panel data methodology with the recent advances in spatial econometrics. Our findings confirm the presence of a non-linear link between regional economic prospects and environmental degradation. However, unlike the core expectations of the EKC hypothesis, our results demonstrate a U-shaped relationship between economic development and SO2 levels. Moreover, these findings are robust to the inclusion of a spatial battery which highlights the existence of regional spillovers. Overall, our results show that the post-2000 epoch calls for a different action plan to mitigate the rising impact of environmental degradation in Turkey.

Asymmetric impact of financial development, trade openness, and environmental degradation on economic growth in Venezuela

This study assesses the asymmetric impact of financial development, trade openness, and environmental degradation on economic growth in Venezuela between 1980 and 2019 using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model. Findings from the bounds test indicate the presence of cointegration between the series in the model. Further findings from the study showed evidence of a significant negative long-run impact of negative shocks to financial development on long-run economic growth, thereby confirming that declining financial development hinders economic growth in Venezuela. Furthermore, positive and negative shocks of trade openness show a positive impact on economic growth in the long run. Meanwhile, in the short-run, negative shocks to financial development negatively impacts economic growth, while one year lagged negative shocks to financial development improve the short-run economic growth. More so, results from the long-run asymmetric test reveal that only financial development has a significant asymmetric effect on economic growth. However, errors to the system are adjusted at a speed of 38%. This study, thus, recommends the improvement of the financial sector and removing barriers to trade where possible, while adopting low carbon emissions for economic growth.

“Does Institutional Quality, Natural Resources, Globalization, and Renewable Energy Contribute to Environmental Pollution in China? Role of Financialization”

Our study explores the impact of financialization on carbon emissions by utilizing diverse financialization proxies, particularly for China. We examine the impact of financialization, institutional quality, globalization, natural resources, trade openness, and renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption on environmental pollution over the period 1996–2017 by utilizing dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulations. The empirical findings of the study indicate that institutional quality, trade, globalization, natural resources, and renewable energy consumption significantly decrease environmental pollution in the long run, while foreign direct investment and financialization have neutral effects on carbon emissions. Our findings demonstrate that a 1% increase in institutional quality, trade, IFDI, renewable energy, and globalization leads to a decrease in CO2 emissions by 0.198, 0.016, 0.075, 0.010, and 0.072%, respectively. Even though financialization indexes contributed insignificantly to environmental degradation, other explanatory variables significantly affected carbon emissions through indirect effects of financialization. Financialization indexes behave in a similar context, and these proxy indicators are good parameters to understand the complex nature of financialization. Moreover, in order to achieve low carbon emissions and sustainable development, countries need viable financial institutions that focus on green growth by promoting clean production process strategies to ensure the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Heading towards sustainable environment: exploring the dynamic linkage among selected macroeconomic variables and ecological footprint using a novel dynamic ARDL simulations approach

Ever since the emancipation of a country, its environmental quality has undergone a significant transition during the development phases; Bangladesh is no exception. Bangladesh is facing a serious threat in the age of global warming, and climate change as the country is looking forward in achieving the SDGs by 2030. Yet, there is a dearth of study regarding the relationship among crucial macroeconomic drivers and ecological footprint (a proxy for environmental degradation). Under the circumstances, this study explores the effects of economic growth, capital formation, urbanization, trade openness, energy use, and technological innovation on the ecological footprint by adopting the novel dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) simulations approach for Bangladesh, using annual frequency data from 1972 to 2017. Empirical results from the bounds test ascertained that there exists a long-run equilibrium association among the outlined variables. Furthermore, the novel dynamic ARDL simulation results revealed that Bangladesh is yet to achieve the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. It was observed that the Bangladesh economy is still at the scale stage of its economic trajectory, emphasizing economic growth relative to her environmental status. However, capital formation, urbanization, and energy use seemed to degrade environmental quality, while trade openness and technological innovation upgraded the environmental quality. Putting it more elaborately, a unit escalation in GDP per capita increases the ecological footprint by 0.829% in the long run, while a unit increase in energy consumption upsurges the ecological footprint by 1.074% and 0.761% in the long run and short run, respectively. As regards technology innovation, one unit increase in it cutbacks the ecological footprint by 0.596% in the long run. Furthermore, the frequency domain causality unveiled the long-run feedback effect between economic growth and ecological footprint. The study further presents possible recommendations that can sustainably address environmental issues, keeping the economy buoyant.

The spatial spillover and threshold effect of green finance on environmental quality: evidence from China

Green finance is a priority for alleviating environmental degradation pressures. Based on panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2009 to 2017, this study utilizes the spatial Durbin model (SDM) and the threshold model to examine the effect of green finance on environmental quality. The empirical results are as follows: (1) Green finance and environmental quality have significant positive spatial autocorrelation; the development of green finance in China is still in the lower-level range, while high-high and low-low are the dominant spatial clustering types. (2) Green finance has a significant positive effect on local environmental quality but has negative effects on that of its neighbors during the research period; however, the spatial spillover effect of green finance is heterogeneous in the three subsamples. (3) There are double threshold effects of green finance on environmental quality, and the effect decreases with the promotion of green finance. These empirical insights provide spatial references for policymakers to formulate strategies for the target of coordinated and integrated regional development.

Unveiling the non-linear impact of sectoral output on environmental pollution in Malaysia

This paper investigates the non-linear impacts of the agricultural, industrial, financial, and service sectors on environmental pollution in Malaysia during the 1980-2018 period. It employs the extended STIRPAT model and two indicators of environmental pollution (carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprints). It uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique to estimate the parameters. Evidence from the study indicate that the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors have inverted U-shaped non-linear impacts on carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprints, while the financial sector has a U-shaped non-linear relationship with carbon dioxide emissions and ecological footprint. These empirical outcomes are robust to diagnostic tests, structural breaks, and alternative estimation technique and proxies. The economic implication of this paper is that, at the early stage of sectoral growth, the pollution intensity of sectoral output increases, but after a certain turning point, a further increase in sectoral output will reduce environmental pollution. Precisely, environmental pollution will reduce if the agricultural, industrial, and service sectors exceed threshold levels of 11%, 44%, and 49% of GDP, respectively, while environmental pollution will be aggravated if financial sector exceeds a threshold level of 94%. Therefore, efforts to mitigate environmental pollution in Malaysia should integrate sectoral growth to attain sustainable development.

Do financial development, FDI, and globalization intensify environmental degradation through the channel of energy consumption: evidence from belt and road countries

This study explores the role of foreign direct investment (FDI), financial development (FD), and globalization (GLO) in environmental degradation (ED) through the channel of energy consumption (EC) for the selected panel of belt and road initiative (BRI) countries for 1990-2017. The study applies appropriate panel unit root tests, the Westerlund cointegration test, the dynamic seemingly unrelated regression (DSUR) long-run panel estimation approach, and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test. Results of panel unit root test ascertain variables are interred either at a level or after first difference and long-run association documents by implementing conventional and error correction. Study findings with DSUR, in the long run, reveal that energy consumption and economic growth expose positive statistically significant association with environmental degradation, implying intensity in energy consumption and aggregate output level shall augment the present state of environmental degradation. While negative statistically significant effects reveal running from FDI, financial development, and globalization to environmental degradation, implying that energy efficiency technology, the scope of green financing through financial development, and cross country effects help the economy reduce environmental consequences with lesser carbon emission. Results of directional causality unveiled feedback hypothesis available in explaining the causality between environmental degradation and energy consumption [ED←➔EC] and FDI and environmental degradation [FDI←➔ED], moreover, unidirectional effects running from financial development, globalization, and economic growth to environmental degradation, i.e., [FD➔ED; GLO➔ED; Y➔ED]. The finding reveals the need to formulate energy policies that promote belt and road (BR) country energy efficiency.

Assessment of financial development on environmental degradation in KSA: how technology effect?

The discourse on the impact of financial development and its effects on environmental quality has been an important research area in the last few decades. The objective of this research attempts to test the technology effect hypothesis on environmental mitigation in the case of Saudi Arabia (KSA) over the period 1970-2016 and the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) with the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model used for empirical inquest. Unlike others, we insert additional variables such as technology, human capital, and the technology effects of financial development into the carbon dioxide emission model. We used the Ng-Perron unit root test to examine the stationary properties of the variables. Similarly, to examine the presence of the cointegration relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and its determinants, the Bound cointegration with multiple structural breaks approach is applied. First, The empirical findings show that financial development and technology have a negative and significant impact on environmental degradation. Second, the technology effects of financial development have an unfortunate effect on environmental mitigation. Finally, lower environmental mitigation is associated with a deepening in total population and affluence. Moreover, findings from the pairwise Granger causality test point that there is no causality running from both financial development and technology to the effect of technology among KSA. On the opposite, we looked at economic growth Granger, cause environmental quality. In addition, a unidirectional causality was seen running from environmental quality to financial development. Similarly, the relationship between affluence and financial development in KSA is unidirectional. Thus, various policy implications should be proposed to policymakers as enhancing the expansion of technology, especially in the industrial sector by incorporating renewable energy consumption to upgrade environmental quality.

Environmental downfall in Bangladesh: revealing the asymmetric effectiveness of remittance inflow in the presence of foreign aid

Even though remittance inflow in Bangladesh is a significant earning source for recipient individuals and one of the vital factors to the development model, its environmental impacts have been ignored in the empirical investigation. To fill this research gap, this article aims to elucidate the asymmetric effectiveness of remittance inflow on environmental degradation in Bangladesh by addressing foreign aid as an additional multiplier in a carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions model, a first for this country. This paper, in doing so, utilizes the newly advanced nonlinear autoregressive distributive lag (NARDL) approach. Data examined are yearly observations throughout 1980-2016, and empirically, the results of the NARDL bound test confirm a long-run cointegrated causality between remittance and CO₂ emissions via approving the theoretical linkage. The asymmetric findings interpret that the intensity of CO₂ emissions raises in the long run relative to the positive shock in remittance, while the elasticity of CO₂ emissions is significant and negative due to the negative shock in remittance. The estimation also reveals the presence of a long-run asymmetric association between the variables. In addition, foreign aid is favorable to ameliorate the quality of the environment over a long period. Focusing on the findings, this paper recommends that the government should concentrate on environment favorable projects and also take measures of tax incentives to remittance investors.

Energy consumption, economic growth, and environmental sustainability challenges for Belt and Road countries: a fresh insight from "Chinese Going Global Strategy"

The present study investigated the impact of energy- and economy-related variables on CO2 emissions in 49 countries of the Belt and Road Initiative from 1995-2018. The robust type of cross-section dependence and heterogeneity methods was adopted to analyze data set of countries. Energy consumption, foreign direct investment, medium and high-tech industry, and GDP have been found highly unfavorable for the ecological health (CO2 emissions) in 49 nations on BRI panel. However, renewable energy consumption has been found in positive correlation with environmental quality (CO2). Financial development indicator has no significant impact on CO2 emissions in present study. The present outcomes clearly claim strong relationship of economic growth and energy with increased CO2 emissions in 49 nations. Therefore, it is important for policy makers, experts, and governments to incentivize and appreciate portfolio investors for sustainable green investments to transform the economic growth into a sustainable and energy efficient development.

The environmental sustainability effects of financial development and urbanization in Latin American countries

The present study assesses the impact of urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, and financial development on CO₂ emissions in Latin American countries using a dataset spanning between 1980 and 2017. The current paper employs utilized panel econometric techniques such as CIDF, panel unit test, the Westerlund panel cointegration, fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), and Dumitrescu Hurlin panel causality test to assess these associations. The outcomes from the FMOLS and DOLS estimation reveal that (i) economic growth impacts CO₂ emissions positively, (ii) energy consumption exerts a positive impact on CO₂ emissions, and (iii) urbanization impacts CO₂ emissions positively. Furthermore, the outcomes of the causality test reveal that energy consumption and economic growth can predict CO₂ emissions in Latin countries. The findings highlight the importance of policymakers actively coordinating strategies to address Latin America's severe environmental degradation.