A study of energy investment and environmental sustainability nexus in China: a bootstrap replications analysis

The impact of Chinese investment on access to clean and sustainable energy in Africa

The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between Chinese investment and access to clean and sustainable energy in African countries. We are motivated by the increasing engagement between China and Africa and the priority of sustainable energy for both partners. We employ robust econometric modelling, including fixed effects and the two-step Generalized Method of Moments, on a panel sample of 43 African countries over 19 years. The results show that Chinese energy investment in Africa is significantly associated with increased access to sustainable electricity. This effect is more pronounced in resource-rich countries, suggesting that China is more attracted to these countries due to the opportunities for resource trade in the form of partnerships. The policy implication of this finding is that it highlights the importance of African governments developing favourable strategies and policies to attract more Chinese investments in the energy sector.

Welfare influences of green energy volatility in Vietnam: new evidence from an extended TVP-VAR approach

We present a study utilizing TVP-VAR - a time-varying parameter vector autoregression combined with an extended joint connectedness approach to examine the interrelationships between welfare and green energy volatility in the system of variables, including economic growth measured by gross domestic product (GDP), rural income, urban income, and renewable energy consumption. We characterize the connectedness of these variables from 19954 to 2019 in Vietnam. Net total directional connectedness of renewable energy consumption and GDP, rural-urban income suggests that both GDP and rural income have constantly been recipients of net contagion shocks, and urban income is a net critical receiver in the period 2001-2010. Renewable energy consumption consistently behaves as an important transmitter of shocks. Pairwise connectedness reveals that renewable energy consumption demonstrates a consistent shock-transmitting behavior for other variables. Renewable energy consumption could be either a transmitter or a receiver of shock from GDP, depending on the period. Our findings are critical since they will help policymakers formulate appropriate policies for reducing the vulnerabilities of these variables and minimizing the spread of risk and uncertainty among them, then improving the individuals' welfare and obtaining ecological sustainability in the case of developing countries.

Data-driven analysis of Romania's renewable energy landscape and investment uncertainties

In recent years, there has been a significant transformation in the energy sector in the European Union as a whole. The shift towards producing renewable energy has had a significant impact on the economic development of most countries, requiring substantial investments through public procurement. This study aims to analyse the evolution of the energy sector in Romania from an economic perspective by using a data-driven approach. The data used in this research is collected from publicly available sources and pertains to energy production and public acquisitions in Romania, carried out through the Electronic Public Procurement System. By using a mixed approach, combining documentary analysis, literature review, and predictive modelling, the study reveals a shift towards more sustainable energy options. There is a significant decrease in the production of thermal power and an increase in solar and wind power. The findings provide an overview and potential scenario of Romania's electricity production levels in 2023, shedding light on the relative uncertainties associated with such a transition. The findings also suggest a clear and growing commitment in Romania towards the adoption of alternative energy sources, as reflected in the trends of public procurement. These procurement trends offer a valuable perspective on policy-making, investment planning, and progress monitoring in Romania's energy transition. Despite the inherent uncertainties in such a transition, the study demonstrates Romania's potential in terms of diverse sources for electricity production as well as the role of public procurement in achieving energy transformation.

A wavelet analysis of dynamic connectedness between geopolitical risk and renewable energy volatility during the COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine-Russia conflicts

The study explores inter-relations between the geopolitical risk index and renewable energy volatility index at frequency dimensions from April 4, 2019, to June 13, 2022, using novel multivariate wavelet analysis approaches, such as partial wavelet coherency and partial wavelet gain. Our method allows us to study these interlinkages at various time frequencies. We also consider the influences of uncertain events like the COVID-19 pandemic and Ukraine-Russia conflicts on their interconnectedness. The multiple coherencies between the geopolitical risk index and the green energy sector suggest four cycles in the low-frequency range (50-130 days) from March 2020 to October 2021 and from February 2022 to June 2022. The partial coherency between the geopolitical risk index and renewable energy volatility index suggests connectedness between renewable energy dynamics and geopolitical risks during the COVID-19 duration and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The partial wavelet coherency of the volatility of green bonds and geopolitical risks suggests that alterations in green bonds caused alterations in geopolitical risks, and the association is negative from February 2021 to April 2021. Both indicators are in-phase with geopolitical risks pushing from February 2020 to April 2020 and from October 2021 to the end of the sample. The partial coherence between clean energy and geopolitical risk suggests geopolitical risks pushing anti-phase connectedness from September 2020 to September 2022. Our findings help policymakers design the most effective policies to lessen the vulnerabilities of these indicators and reduce the spread of risk or uncertainty across them by having insightful knowledge about the primary antecedents of the contagions among these indicators.

Environmental deterioration in the age of industrialization and production: do industrial competition and renewable energy reduce the ecological burden?

The modern era of globalization, economic development, and increase in manufacturing activity pose severe risks to the natural environment. In this context, industries must prioritize sustainable economic growth and development. Thus, the purpose of this study is to provide insight into industrial competition, renewable energy, economic freedom, manufacturing value added, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2 emissions) in the top ten high-income countries from 1997 to 2019. The results from panel cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL), augmented mean group (AMG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) techniques revealed that economic growth and industrial production have a harmful influence on CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, industrial competitiveness, renewable energy, and economic freedom are all negatively associated with CO2 emissions. This specifies that industrial competitiveness, renewable energy, and economic freedom are favorably related to environmental sustainability by limiting CO2 emissions in the top ten high-income countries. These findings imply that governments and responsible authorities/policymakers develop strategies to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing value addition and economic growth in the top ten high-income countries and allocate more financial resources to renewable energy and promote industrial competition.

Understanding the Role of Technology in Asian Economies: The Environmental Impact of Remittances and Economic Complexity

In recent years, scholars have determined various determinants of environmental degradation using the panel and time-series studies. However, technological innovations (TI) and remittances, among the financial system's essential components, are relatively ignored. In addition, nations' economic progress and environmental performance also depend upon the nature of their economic structure. This empirical research investigates the effects of TI, remittances and economic complexity (EC) on CO2 controlling economic growth and trade openness (TR) in the selected 15 Asian nations. The study collected panel data of 15 Asian countries from 1990 to 2019 and employed the panel quantile regression and augmented mean group methods to unveil the impacts of variables on CO2 emissions. The empirical findings established that remittances are negatively linked with CO2 emissions. Similarly, EC reduces CO2 emissions in the context of Asian countries. In addition, EC and remittances Granger cause CO2 emissions. These findings indicate that remittances and EC positively contribute to environmental quality in Asian countries. Conversely, TI, economic growth, and TR intensify CO2 emissions in Asian countries. Finally, the study recommended policies to enhance remittances and EC in Asian countries to curb environmental degradation.

How do energy supply and energy use link to environmental degradation in China?

China's energy supply and energy use are closely linked to environmental degradation. The country's heavy reliance on coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as its rapidly growing demand for energy, have contributed to air and water pollution, soil erosion, and other environmental problems. To address these issues, China must transition to cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy and implement policies to reduce energy demand and promote conservation. This paper explores the impacts of total primary energy supply and energy use on environmental degradation in China, using international trade and economic growth as moderating variables from 1971 to 2019. The results indicate that the total primary energy supply is significant at a 1% significance level, which suggests that it strongly impacts the ecological footprint. Energy use and international trade are significant at a 5% level, indicating that they also influence ecological footprint, albeit to a lesser extent. Economic growth is significant at a 1% significance level, suggesting a strong positive association with the ecological footprint. Energy supply improves the environment in China, whereas energy use degrades the environment. Policymakers should focus on promoting energy efficiency in the industrial and transportation sectors. This can be achieved through the implementation of energy-saving technologies, the promotion of public transportation, and the development of low-carbon transportation systems.

What are the impacts of economic complexity and product proximity on nations' circularity? An empirical approach using statistical analysis

The topic of whether economic complexity or close proximity to a product produces favorable conditions to aid nations in transitioning to the circular economy is addressed in this article. Six distinct indicators are used to assess the performance of circularity. The amount of municipal garbage, the amount of circular materials utilized, the number of circularity patents, the rate of recycling waste, the rate of recycling biowaste, and the rate of recycling electronic waste are some examples of these metrics. By using various econometric techniques (namely, a panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) model, a feasible generalized least square estimate (FGLS) model, and the two-step general method of moment (the two-step GMM), our research demonstrates how economic complexity and close proximity to a product have varied nonlinear impacts on circularity. We do, however, offer empirical proof that, particularly over the long term, a country's closeness to its products may significantly improve its performance in terms of circularity. Although economic complexity is a crucial enabler of circularity, it may also become too complicated, which could impede the process.

Dynamic connectedness between FinTech innovation and energy volatility during the war in time of pandemic

We use an extended joint connectedness technique and the time-varying parameter vector autoregression (ETVP-VAR) method to examine connections between the ARK FinTech Innovation ETF (ARKF), Global X FinTech ETF (FINX), and energy volatility by connectedness as a quality of eight indicators from April 1, 2019, to September 26, 2022. Our results demonstrate that the pattern of ARKF and FINX is picked up as a crucial net shock transmitter that nearly permeates our analyzed sample. Since the COVID-19 epidemic, more people are adopting FinTech partly because of their concern about the disease spreading through social contact and cash handling. Moreover, green bonds are net shock recipients over the long term. Furthermore, during the COVID-19 duration and the Russo-Ukrainian War, shocks transmitted to green bonds soared sharply. By contrast, keeping with the clean energy and crude oil trend, these indicators transmit a network of shocks during the period under study. When considering wind power, it becomes clear that this signal first acts as a net shock transmitter before changing into a net receiver of shocks from mid-2021 onwards. We recognize that the system is a net shock receiver regarding clean power. The dynamics invariably lead the series to change to a net shock transmitter in mid-2021. By mid-2021, the developments always cause the series to transform into a net shock transmitter.

Dynamic connectedness between green energy and carbon risk during Russia-Ukraine conflict: new evidence from a wavelet analysis

The study explores the inter-relations between green and renewable energy and carbon risk. Key market participants with varying time horizons include traders, authorities, and other financial entities. This research examines these relationships and frequency dimensions from February 7, 2017, to June 13, 2022, using novel multivariate wavelet analysis approaches, such as partial wavelet coherency and partial wavelet gain. The multiple coherencies between green bond, clean energy, and carbon emission futures imply that these regions were situated at low frequencies (relating to approximately 124-day frequency) and run from the beginning of 2017 to the beginning of 2018, in the first half of 2020, and from the beginning of 2022 to the end of the sample. The relationship between the solar energy index, envitec biogas, biofuels, geothermal energy, and carbon emission futures, is significant in the low-frequency band starting from early 2020 to middle 2022 and in the high-frequency band starting from early 2022 to middle 2022. Our research demonstrates the partial coherencies between these indicators during the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The partial coherency between the S&P green bond index and carbon risk suggests that carbon risk pushes anti-phase connectedness. The partial phase difference S&P global clean energy index and carbon emission futures (from early April 2022 to the end of April 2022) recommend that indicators are in-phase with carbon risk pushing and the phase (from early May 2022 to middle June 2022), suggesting that carbon emission futures are in-phase with S&P global clean energy index pushing.

Scrutinizing interlinkages between digitalization, economic complexity, green technologies, green energy consumption and CO2 emission by quantile spillovers in Vietnam

We use quantile vector autoregression (QVAR) to identify the connection between six variables related to digitalization (proxied by a number of Internet users and mobile cellular subscriptions), green technology development, green energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions, and economic complexity index from 1996 to 2019 in Vietnam. The dynamic connectedness of the system is 62% and 14% in the short and long term, respectively. Their connectedness is intense for highly positive and negative quantiles (over 80% quantile). In contrast, economic complexity transmits shocks in the short term and manifests itself even more in the long term. Green technology development is the central receiver of short- and long-term shocks. Besides, digitalization captured by a number of Internet users has switched from shock transmitters to shock receivers in the short term. Other metrics like mobile cellular subscriptions, green energy consumption, and CO2 emissions are mainly shock-receiver-driven. In the short term, there was volatility, especially from 2009 to 2013, due to unprecedented events like destructive changes in political, economic, and financial issues in the globe. Our findings are critical for economists and policymakers in promoting a country's digitalization, green technology performance, and green energy on the path toward sustainable development.

Impact of energy depletion, human development, and income distribution on natural resource sustainability

Constant exploitation of natural resources has resulted from the industrialization and urbanization of society. One of the possible causes of the COVID-19 pandemic is an ecological disturbance caused by excessive resource exploitation. Countries worldwide have taken precautionary measures to limit the spread of this disease because of its highly infectious nature: lockdowns, quarantines, curfews, etc. This paper explores the impacts of energy depletion and the human development index on natural resources, considering the roles of CO₂ emissions and economic growth in China from 1971 to 2019. We apply advanced economic modeling using the Phillips-Ouliaris test for integration, Gaussian identity mixed-effects Generalized Linear Model, and Robust GEE population-averaged model for long-run estimates. Results explain that CO₂ emissions and economic growth devalue natural resources, while the human development index and energy depletion increase them. Depletion of natural resources occurs due to overexploitation and overuse of natural resources, as well as unsustainable planning and waste. In the case of natural resources that man uses to make other resources, such as dams, roads, sports complexes, etc., these are considered human-made resources. It is, therefore, essential to develop human resources as a part of the natural resource development process. Research limitations and future directions are discussed.

An application of Bayesian vector heterogeneous autoregressions to study network interlinkages of the crude oil and gold, stock, and cryptocurrency markets during the COVID-19 outbreak

We investigate fat tails and network interconnections of crude oil, gold, stock, and cryptocurrency using seven Bayesian vector heterogeneous autoregression fashions. In this paper, we incorporate parameter uncertainty by using Bayesian VAR models for estimation. To make rational investment decisions, we decompose a network of financial assets and commodity prices into various time horizons to obtain essential insight and knowledge. During the short, medium, and long run, this paper differentiates dynamically between network interlinkages between these markets. We found some noteworthy results in our study. In the first place, network interlinkages exhibit remarkable differences over time. Interlinkages between networks are increased in the short term, medium term, and long term due to transient events occurring in markets during the study period. As a result of the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic, the long-term ties within the system are significantly impacted. Additionally, based on net directional linkages, each market's role shifts (from sending to receiving shock and vice versa) before the pre-COVID-19 pandemic course, whereas they remain persistent during COVID-19. Observations of short- and medium-term trends reveal that three markets, namely, crude oil, gold, and stock, receive shocks, which are transmitted to these markets by the cryptocurrency market. In terms of long-horizon measures, the results indicate that the gold and cryptocurrency markets persist as shock transmitters. Our findings are critical since policymakers can also design appropriate policies to reduce the vulnerabilities of such markets and prevent risk spread and instability.

The role of financialization in stimulating environmental innovation implementation in the European region

This paper empirically examines the influences of financial development on environmental innovation implementation. Our research is based on four measures designed to assess the effectiveness of environmental innovations in 24 European countries, including the percentage of enterprises implementing environmental innovation investment (% of surveyed firms); the percentage of enterprises implementing environmental innovation activities (e.g., implementation of resource efficiency actions, sustainable products, or ISO 14001 certificates) measured, a number of enterprises having new ISO 14001 registration and a number of environmental innovation-related patents. Based on our analysis and estimates, we reveal that the better quality of the financial system improved the environmental innovation performance in the European region during the 2011-2019 period. To shed light on the link between financialization and environmental innovations, we dig deeper into financial markets and financial institutions' depth, access, and efficiency. Our results highlight financial institutions and financial markets' depth and efficiency in enhancing EI activities. However, EI-related patents do not show any significant improvements under the changes in the financial system.

Dynamic interlinkages between the crude oil and gold and stock during Russia-Ukraine War: evidence from an extended TVP-VAR analysis

The Russia-Ukraine significantly influences the oil market. We employ a time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) in combination with an extended joint connectedness approach to identify the sources of the oil market's volatility by studying interlinkages between the crude oil and gold and stock market by characterizing the connectedness of four markets starting from January 1, 2018 to April 8, 2022. Our attention is mostly paid to the period marked by the event that Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, 2022. Our results demonstrate that the war shocks appear to influence the system-wide dynamic connectedness, which signifies the interlinkages among the considered markets. Net total directional connectedness suggests that the oil and gold markets appear to be the net transmitter of spillover shocks in the system. However, there are shifts in the roles of these two markets during the time of the Russia-Ukraine war shock. Pairwise connectedness highlights the significance of the oil market in transmitting the adverse influences of shocks to other markets, especially during the Russia-Ukraine war.

China's experience in developing green finance to reduce carbon emissions: from spatial econometric model evidence

The objective of this study is to attempt to assess the effect of green finance in reducing carbon emissions in China, analyze the transformative role of policy impact in the development of green finance markets, and investigate the impact mechanisms of how green finance affects carbon dioxide emissions. Our time frame from 2007 to 2018 is selected for the empirical study by integrating the availability of data due to the scarcity of relevant statistics in the early days of green finance. Location of this study is in China where 30 provinces are included, excluding Tibet due to severe data shortage. As for methodology, we construct a green finance evaluation index system containing five indicators by entropy weight method, choose dynamic spatial Durbin model (DSDM) for empirical research, and perform mechanism analysis of restructuring industry and greening technology as intermediary channel. Our findings demonstrate that green finance in China does significantly reduce carbon emissions, and its spatial spillover effect and long-term effect are also verified. Furthermore, green finance tends to reduce CO2 emissions through restructuring industry and greening technology. Correspondingly, policy implications are recommended. First, improving green financial market and strengthening information disclosure of green financial market are crucial to facilitate green finance development. Local governments formulate carbon emission reduction strategies focusing on space by joint conference or coordination mechanism like river head system. Lastly, a mechanism should be developed to strengthen the transformation of industrial structure and to promote greening technology.

Is environmental tax an enabler of circularity: new insights from the unique database

This paper provides answers to the question that the environmental tax enables the circular economy. By employing six diverse measures to reflect circularity (namely the amount of municipal waste, the number of circularity patents, the amount of circular material used, the rate of recycling waste, the rate of recycling biowaste, and the rate of recycling e-waste) and four measures of environmental tax (namely total environmental tax revenue, energy tax revenue, pollution and resource tax revenue, and transportation tax revenue) of European countries, our article provided a comprehensive analysis of the nexus between environmental tax and circularity performance. A panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) model and a feasible generalized least square estimates (FGLS) model are employed to study this association, while the dynamic fixed effects (DFE) estimator is applied to the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method to measure both the short-run and long-run effects. Our study reveals the heterogeneous effects of an environmental tax on circularity. Taxing on the energy sector, the polluted sector, and transportation stimulate the process of circularity. Notably, our estimation results reveal that environmental tax can enable European countries to transit to a circular economy, especially in the long term. Our findings are critical for economists and policymakers in using the tax as an effective tool to promote a country's circularity performance.

Alternative energy and natural resources in determining environmental sustainability: a look at the role of government final consumption expenditures in France

The global community is concerned about several environmental changes. Climate change, desertification, destruction of tropical rainforests, erosion of coastal ecosystems, soil resource loss, overfishing, species extinction, and loss of biodiversity are all contributing factors. Many commentators contend that these issues make up a cumulative, sustained human impact on the environment that has profoundly changed the surface of the Earth. We explore the effects of alternative energy sources, natural resources, and government consumption expenditures on French environmental sustainability from 1990 through 2018 under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework. We apply advanced econometric methodologies for empirical analysis. Our long-run estimates indicate that alternative and nuclear energy, natural resources, and government final consumption expenditures are negatively associated with CO₂ emissions, while economic growth is positively related to CO₂ emissions. CO₂ emissions are negatively correlated with the square root of economic growth (EKC), thereby supporting EKC. As economic growth increases, environmental sustainability deteriorates. Eventually, EKC will make a positive contribution to environmental improvement. Future research directions, research limitations, and policy implications are discussed.

Nexus between environmental disclosures and top management team characteristics: a systematic review

Voluntary nature of sustainability disclosures in most of the countries shifts focus of academicians towards discretion of top executives as a major determining force for firms to make their operations environmentally and socially sustainable. Based on two decade literature on the topic available at Scopus database this study aims to present a comprehensive knowledge map of intellectual structure on the relationship of top management characteristics on sustainability spending and disclosures. A bibliometric systematic review of 164 articles from 2002 to 2022 has been conducted with the help of VOSviewer and identified most influential journals, articles, and the countries whose corresponding authors have contributed in the field and influential research clusters in the literature. These research clusters are first, red cluster with 94 articles has discussed the upper echelon's personal and professional characteristics in relation to sustainability disclosures. Second, green cluster with 60 articles has discussed particularly the gender diversity in top executives and board of directors in relationship with sustainability disclosures. Third, blue cluster with 10 articles has elaborated the influence of independent directors on sustainability disclosures of corporate sector. The findings of this study will particularly help the regulators to make regulations regarding critical mass of female on boards and top management, family-owned firms, and politically connected directors. Moreover it will also help consultants, analysts, and investment bankers to differentiate firms with pressure-resistant and pressure-sensitive institutional investors. From this review shareholders can be very much clear in the selection of their representatives and ultimately the appointment of top management team. This study also provides an insight for future direction so that unexplored dimension of this field may further be discovered by upcoming researchers.

Socioeconomic and resource efficiency impacts of digital public services

This paper measures the socioeconomic and resource-efficient influences of digital transformation in the public sector in the European region. To capture the socioeconomic impacts of digital public services, we employ a socioeconomic score index calculated as the unweighted average of the re-scaled scores for changes in employment, exports, and turnover from eco-industries. Regarding resource-efficient impacts, we employ the resource efficiency score index measured as the unweighted average of the re-scaled scores for material, energy productivity, and the intensity of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Measures such as user-centricity, business mobility, and key enablers are used to demonstrate the level of digitalization in the public sector. According to our estimations based on various econometric techniques, digital public services have a favorable effect on the economy and society through a positive impact on employment, exports, and turnover of eco-industries. The effects of digitalization on resource productivity follow a nonlinear U-shaped curve, suggesting that the improvement of resource efficiency is only present when the digital transformation process reaches a certain level.

Abundance of natural resources and environmental sustainability: the roles of manufacturing value-added, urbanization, and permanent cropland

Sustainable management of natural resources and green urbanization is crucial because it assists the use of resources wisely without unnecessary use and without affecting future generations' needs. This research aims to examine the impact of the abundance of natural resources on China's CO2 emissions while moderating the roles of manufacturing value-added, urbanization, and permanent cropland from 1970 to 2016. This study developed a comprehensive empirical analysis, applied advanced econometric methodologies, and used the generalized linear model (GLM) and robust generalized estimating equation (GEE). Overall, the results conclude that natural resource abundance and permanent cropland are negatively associated with China's CO2 emissions. However, urbanization and manufacturing value-added are negatively related to those CO2 emissions. Moreover, natural resource abundance and permanent cropland improve environmental sustainability while urbanization and manufacturing value-added deteriorate that environmental sustainability. It is suggested that policymakers should promote sustainable management of natural resources and encourage economic usage of natural resources to boost resilient ecosystems; shape sustainable places, lifestyles, and communities; and consume natural resources less. Additionally, policymakers should consider collaborating with landscape architects, urban planners, engineers, transport planners, ecologists, sociologists, physiologists, economists, physicists, and other specialists to develop green urban communities. The limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.

Understanding the dynamics of natural resources rents, environmental sustainability, and sustainable economic growth: new insights from China

There is a close relationship between natural resources and production in many sectors, and production and consumption can also have an environmental impact. Low environmental quality affects economic growth and well-being. Environmental protection and economic growth cannot be maximized simultaneously. Choosing the right balance between the two aims is imperative for each country. By moderating the role of merchandise trade and manufacturing value-added from 1970 to 2016, we examine the dynamics of China's natural resource rents, environmental sustainability, and sustainable economic growth. Overall, the results of this study indicate that natural resources improve environmental sustainability at the expense of economic growth. In contrast, financial development, merchandise trade, and urban population growth promote environmental degradation. It is vital to understand governance mechanisms to sustain natural resource policies, considering environmental, social, and governance concerns to benefit society.

Natural resources, population aging, and environmental quality: analyzing the role of green technologies

Depletion of natural resources and population aging are the two most critical challenges for environmental sustainability. However, the research that integrates natural resources and population aging in the same environmental policy framework is still scant. Therefore, this study investigates the linkage between natural resources, population aging, green technologies, and ecological footprint (EF) of G7 countries. In addition, this study also explores the moderating effects of green technologies on the relationship between natural resources and EF. Drawing on the panel times series data from 1970 to 2017, we employ a cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lags (CS-ARDL) model for short- and long-run empirical estimation. Our empirical analysis indicates that natural resource use exacerbates ecological degradation by increasing EF. By contrast, population aging and green technologies present positive ameliorative effects on EF. Interestingly, the interaction effect of green technologies and natural resources indicates that the damage to ecological quality from natural resources can be effectively improved by means of green technologies, thus maintaining environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the results of panel quantile regression show that the effects of population aging and green technologies on the overall ecological footprint distribution in G7 countries are heterogeneous, while the effects of natural resources on the distribution of all conditions of the ecological footprint are positive. In addition, this paper verifies the causal relationship between the variables using the Dumitrescu and Hurlin test. The findings reveal that the relevant changes in all explanatory variables are bilaterally causally associated with EF. Based on these results, this paper provides some feasible policy recommendations.

Renewable and non-renewable energy consumption driven sustainable development in ASEAN countries: do financial development and institutional quality matter?

Energy consumption for sustainable development has become a crucial issue in recent years. The anthropogenic effects of traditional energy sources (non-renewables) underscore the need for renewable energy and efforts to promote its adoption have comprised policy makers' strategies to achieve sustainable development. At the same time, institutional stability is a necessary element needed to meet the goal of sustainable development via improved management of resources and technology diffusion. The literature shows some contradictory findings on this matter and this study aims to clarify. Thus, this research scrutinizes the contribution of renewable and non-renewable energies in sustainable development while also taking into account financial development and institutional quality in ASEAN countries from 1980 to 2018. To assess for co-integration, a pooled mean group (PMG) regression technique is employed and the findings from this technique are verified by using fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and canonical cointegration regression (CCR) techniques in conjunction with other panel-based econometric procedures to evaluate the robustness of the model. The findings reveal a significantly positive influence for renewable energy and a significantly adverse impact for non-renewable energy with respect to sustainable development in ASEAN countries. In addition, the results indicate that institutional quality and financial development have adverse effects on sustainable development. Therefore, this research recommends sustainable management of non-renewables and greater promotion of renewables by strengthening institutional quality in ASEAN countries.

Role of alternative and nuclear energy in stimulating environmental sustainability: impact of government expenditures

Environmental sustainability is fundamental to the survival of our planet and ourselves, as polluted air, water, and land severely affect communities and society to thrive and damage the quality of life. This study examined the role of alternative and nuclear energy in stimulating the environment sustainably while mediating the function of government expenditure and economic growth in the top three highest CO₂ emitter countries. We apply advanced econometric methodologies for empirical analysis from 1981 to 2016 and find long-run relationships among the variables that suggest general government final consumption expenditure and economic growth are positively related to CO₂ emissions. Moreover, alternative and nuclear energy and the square root of economic growth (EKC) improve environmental sustainability. The general government's final consumption expenditure and economic growth deteriorate environmental sustainability. Policymakers in the top three highest CO₂ emitter countries are encouraged to adopt a comprehensive approach to access the compatibility of alternative and nuclear energy sources, changing the source of uranium from mined ore to seawater, encourage, tide, and include macroeconomic stabilization, public and private fiscal position goals with the environmental sustainability policies. Moreover, governments are suggested to incorporate green fiscal policies to address the global environmental challenges and promote a green economy. Aligning government expenditures with environmental goals, reflecting externalities in prices, broader fiscal reform by making fiscal space for clean and green investment is highly encouraged to achieve the sustainable development goals' target. Study limitations and directions for future research in the area are presented.

Are digital business and digital public services a driver for better energy security? Evidence from a European sample

This paper empirically analyses the impacts of the digital transformation process in the business and public sectors on energy security (ES). We employ 8 indicators to represent four aspects of energy security, including availability, acceptability, develop-ability, and sustainability. Digital businesses development is captured by e-Commerce (including e-Commerce sales, e-Commerce turnover, e-Commerce web sales) and e-Business (including customer relation management (CRM) usage and cloud usage). Digital public services development is reflected by business mobility and key enablers. Different econometric techniques are utilized in a database of 24 European Union countries from 2011 to 2019. Our estimation results demonstrate that digital businesses play a critical role in improving the acceptability and develop-ability of energy security, while digitalization in public services supports achieving energy sustainability goals. The use of modern digital technology such as big data, cloud computing is extremely important to ensure the security of the energy system, especially the availability of energy. For further discussion on the role of digital public services, we reveal a nonlinear association between digitalization in the public sector and energy intensity and energy consumption, suggesting the acceptability and develop-ability of energy security can be enhanced if the digital transformation process achieves a certain level.

Does foreign private investment affect the clean industrial environment? Nexus among foreign private investment, CO2 emissions, energy consumption, trade openness, and sustainable economic growth

This study examines to what extent foreign private investment (FPI) affects the clean industrial environment and sustainable economic growth through developed countries investment in China. Moreover, this study investigates an association among FPI, CO2 emission, energy consumption, trade openness, and sustainable economic growth. This study uses random effects and generalized least squares (GLS) and panel VAR estimators for data analysis. The results show that China's economy has a great positive impact on the location and choice of investment in domestic markets in emerging countries and developed countries. In addition, investment in emerging and developed economies has increased the contribution of domestic enterprises and environmental sustainability to the national economy. The further results show that foreign private investment and gross domestic investment have positive impact on sustainable economic growth.

Influence of Senior Executives Characteristics on Corporate Environmental Disclosures: A Bibliometric Analysis

This study aims to synthesize the literature on the top management team (TMT) characteristics influence on environmental disclosures of public organizations and identify recent trends, key themes, influential journals, and authors. Our study recruited 88 research articles on the relationship of TMT characteristics and environmental disclosures from 54 academic journals published from 2010 to 2021 for bibliometric analysis. Our study has identified three influential streams: (1) Role of Politically connections of TMT, good governance in environmental disclosures; (2) Significance of environmental disclosures and performance; and (3) institutional investors and environmental disclosures. Thematic map classifies the TMT characteristics and environmental disclosures relationship themes into four categories: Niche theme (e.g., financial expertise, CFO characteristics, CEO tenure, and board backgrounds); motor themes (e.g., environmental sustainability and climate change); emerging/declining themes (e.g., Environmental disclosure, managerial ownership, and CEO tenure); and basic/transversal themes (e.g., CEO characteristics, upper echelon theory, corporate governance). This study assists academicians, policymakers, managers, and consultants in the corporate sector to understand the role of different dimensions of TMT characteristics regarding environmental disclosures. Our study concludes with important practical implications and future research directions.

Clean energy investment and financial development as determinants of environment and sustainable economic growth: evidence from China

Environmental sustainability has become one of the most common phrases in discussions about climate change. This study examines the impact of clean energy investment and financial development on environmental sustainability and China's economic growth, using manufacturing value-added and urbanization as moderator variables from 1970 to 2016. We used advanced econometric methodologies for empirical estimations, used structural break unit root tests, fully modified least square, dynamic least square, and robust least square multiple regressions for long-run estimates. Overall, the results determine that clean energy investment is negatively associated with CO₂ emissions and ecological footprint while positively associated with China's economic growth. Financial development, manufacturing value-added, and urbanization are positively associated with CO₂ emissions, ecological footprint, and China's economic growth. Moreover, clean energy investment improves environmental sustainability at the expense of economic growth. Financial development, manufacturing value-added, and urbanization encourage economic growth at the expense of environmental sustainability. We argued that the local governments play a critical role in lifting the outstanding barriers to cleaner energy investment, addressing disincentives, including pricing carbon dioxide emissions, reforming inefficient nonrenewable fossil fuel subsidies, and addressing regulatory and market rigidities that can undesirably affect the attractiveness of clean energy investment. Policymakers are suggested to encourage green finance strategy for the financial sector to broader sustainable development objectives. At the heart of green manufacturing, industrialization policies are needed to integrate diverse intentions, like inclusive growth, environmental protection, and productivity through a wider range of economic, social, and environmental policy frameworks suitable for decoupling growth from social and environmental unsustainability.