Effects of economic complexity, economic growth, and renewable energy technology budgets on ecological footprint: the role of democratic accountability

Interconnecting sustainable development goals 7 and 13: the role of renewable energy innovations towards combating the climate change

ABSTRACTThis research examines the trends in environmental footprints through energy innovations, digital trade, economic freedom, and environmental regulation from the context of G7 economies. Quarterly observations from 1998-2020 have been utilized for the advanced-panel model entitled Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR). The initial findings confirm slope heterogeneity, interdependence between the cross-sectional units, stationarity properties, and panel cointegration. The results through FM-OLS, D-OLS, and FE-OLS justify that energy innovations, digital trade, and environmental regulations control ecological damages. In contrast, economic freedom and growth are causing more damage to nature, like ecological footprints (EFP). Similarly, the results through MMQR confirm that the impact of energy innovations, digital trade, and environmental regulations is accepted as a panacea to control environmental degradation in G7. However, the magnitude of the coefficient varies across different quantiles. More specifically, the findings show that the impact of energy innovations is highly significant at 0.50th quantile. In contrast, through digital trade, the impact on EFP is only significant under medium and higher order quantiles (i.e. 0.50th, 0.75th-1.0th). Contrarily, economic freedom is causing more EFP across all the quantiles, where the findings are highly significant at 0.75th quantile. Besides, a few other policy implications are also discussed.

Assessing the effects of extreme climate risk on urban ecological resilience in China

The frequent occurrence of extreme weather events has imparted significant pressure on urban ecosystem management. Evaluating the relationship between extreme climate risk (ECR) and urban ecological resilience (UER) is a key issue in achieving the green and sustainable development objectives of cities. This study measures UER in China from 2005 to 2020 using the entropy weight method-TOPSIS method, investigates the relationship between ECR and UER using the dynamic GMM model, and further explores the influencing mechanism. The results suggest that ECR has an inhibiting influence on UER. Additionally, the moderating mechanism investigation demonstrates that environmental regulation can mitigate the threat of ECR to UER to a certain extent, and with the regulation effect based on the government's environmental concern being better than that of the market pollution fee payment. The group test outcomes demonstrate that the discrepancies in regions and marketization lead to certain differences in the relationship between ECR and UER. Additional investigation indicates that ECR has an asymmetric relationship with UER at distinct quantiles. Our findings reflect the subtle associations between ECR and UER as a whole, and will help relevant organizations in formulating more precise and scientific policies to enhance urban ecological resilience.

Does financial inclusion and information communication technology affect environmental degradation in oil-producing countries?

Advances in financial inclusions have contributed to economic growth and poverty alleviation, addressing environmental implications and implementing measures to mitigate climate change. Financial inclusions force advanced countries to progress their policies in a manner that does not hinder developing countries' current and future development. Consequently, this research examined the asymmetric effects of information and communication technology (ICT), financial inclusion, consumption of primary energy, employment to population ratio, and human development index on CO2 emissions in oil-producing countries (UAE, Nigeria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq, USA, and Canada). The study utilizes annual panel data spanning from 1990 to 2021. In addition, this study investigates the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) trend on the entire sample, taking into account the effects of energy consumption and population to investigate the impact of financial inclusion on environmental degradation. The study used quantile regression, FMOLS, and FE-OLS techniques. Preliminary outcomes revealed that the data did not follow a normal distribution, emphasizing the need to use quantile regression (QR). This technique can effectively detect outliers, data non-normality, and structural changes. The outcomes from the quantile regression analysis indicate that ICT consistently reduces CO2 emissions in all quantiles (ranging from the 1st to the 9th quantile). In the same way, financial inclusion, and employment to population ratio constrains CO2 emissions across each quantile. On the other side, primary energy consumption and Human development index were found to increase CO2 emissions in each quantile (1st to 9th). The findings of this research have implications for both the academic and policy domains. By unraveling the intricate interplay between financial inclusion, ICT, and environmental degradation in oil-producing nations, the study contributes to a nuanced understanding of sustainable development challenges. Ultimately, the research aims to guide the formulation of targeted policies that leverage financial inclusion and technology to foster environmentally responsible economic growth in oil-dependent economies.

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

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

Greening the BRI countries through economic and political reforms

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

Environmental regulation, renewable electricity, industrialization, economic complexity, technological innovation, and sustainable environment: testing the N-shaped EKC hypothesis for the G-10 economies

This study examines the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis and the role of environmental regulation, renewable electricity, industrialization, economic complexity, and technological innovation in sustainable environment for the G-10 economies, namely, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the USA, from 1994 to 2020. We employed CS-ARDL (cross-sectional augmented distributed lag (CS-ARDL), FMOLS (fully modified ordinary least squares), and DOLS (dynamic ordinary least squares) for the analysis of the data. The estimates confirm the N-shaped EKC hypothesis between the GDP and CO2 emission. Moreover, the long-run estimates exhibit that environmental tax, renewable electricity, economic complexity, and technological innovation have negative effect on CO2 emission, while GDP, industrialization and arable land have positive effect on CO2 emission. Based on these findings, we propose that governments must implement large-scale government plans and initiatives to encourage the development of environmentally friendly technologies and ideas based on renewable energy. Moreover, further growing renewable energy, environmental policies like a carbon tax, investments in green technologies, subsidies, and rewards for renewable energy infrastructure investment should be taken into account.

Toward a sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa: do economic complexity and renewable energy improve environmental quality?

Emission reduction has become more crucial for environmental sustainability in light of the growing concerns about climate change. Many studies have identified that structural change and clean energy technologies improve environmental quality. However, there is an absence of empirics that focus on the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) context, which shifted the structure of their economies from the agriculture sector towards sophisticated manufacturing activities that affect the environment. Hence, this study aims to investigate the impacts of economic complexity and renewable energy consumption on carbon emissions in 41 SSA countries between 1999 and 2018. The study adopts contemporary heterogeneous panel approaches to overcome heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence issues that usually arise in panel data estimates. The empirical findings of the pooled mean group (PMG) cointegration analysis indicate that renewable energy consumption alleviates environmental pollution in the long run and short run. In contrast, economic complexity improves environmental quality in the long run but not in the short run. On the other hand, economic growth contributes adversely to environmental degradation in the long run and short run. The study indicates that urbanization worsens environmental pollution in the long run. In addition, the outcomes of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test indicate a unidirectional causal path from carbon emissions to renewable energy consumption. The causality results also suggest that carbon emission has bidirectional causation with economic complexity, economic growth, and urbanization. Therefore, the study recommends that SSA countries change their economic structure towards knowledge-intensive production and adopt policies that encourage investment in renewable energy infrastructures by subsidizing the initiatives to achieve clean energy technologies.

Heading towards sustainable environment: does renewable and non-renewable energy generation matter for the effect of industrialization and urbanization on ecological footprint? Evidence from China

This study examines how renewable and non-renewable energy generation interacts with both to affect the ecological footprint in China during 1990-2019 by using FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR estimation techniques and ARDL simulation models to assess the impact of industrialization and urbanization on environmental sustainability based on the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis model framework. Firstly, the findings verify the applicability and validity of the EKC hypothesis in China. Secondly, renewable energy generation, industrialization, and urbanization facilitate the reduction of ecological footprint and the improvement of environmental quality in the long run, while non-renewable energy generation increases the ecological footprint and leads to the intensification of ecological pollution. However, the short-term estimates give evidence that industrialization, urbanization, and renewable and non-renewable energy generation can all increase the ecological footprint, which is not conducive to ecological sustainability. Thus, from the perspective of ecological sustainability in China, our findings are important in that they provide clear directions for ecological policy formulation, and we also provide some targeted policy recommendations for them to promote sustainable development as a goal.

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

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

The productive capacity and environment: evidence from OECD countries

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

Unbundling the dynamic impact of renewable energy and financial development on real per capita growth in African countries

Industrialization is considered imperative for growth but energy transitions are paramount for inclusive and green growth especially for a region with low financial sector development to spur investment in renewable energy. This study thus unbundles the interrelation among renewable energy production, financial development, and real per capita growth in 32 selected African countries from the period of 1996 to 2018. These countries are categorized on the basis of oil-rich and non-oil-rich as well as income levels. The study employs Pooled Mean Group, Augmented Mean Group, and Dynamic OLS, and key findings are established. The findings reveal a significantly positive renewable energy-economic growth relationship in all the different groups. Financial development is also found to improve economic performance in all categories except in non-oil-rich African countries. These findings empirically support the need for cleaner energy in the production process to spur inclusive and green growth amidst current global concern for climate change and global warning. This study thus recommends the restructuring of the energy pricing system, provision of long-term finance, adoption of risk mitigation instruments, and improved institutional framework for private participation in renewable energy infrastructural development for growth sustainability in Africa.

Economic complexity, ICT, biomass energy consumption, and environmental degradation: evidence from Iran

Economic complexity, biomass energy consumption, and information communication technology (ICT) have diverse impacts on energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Nevertheless, analysis of these variable effects is not addressed in the previous literature; the antiqueness of this article is stuffing this gap. This study assessed the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, biomass consumption, economic complexity index (ECI), ICT, and CO₂ emissions in Iran in 1994-2018. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and the quantile regression (QR) econometric technique were used to investigate the factors affecting CO₂ emissions in the tails of the conditional distribution. The share of each influential factor was predicted through the variance decomposition analysis (VD) for the next 10 years. The empirical results showed a long-run relationship between the variables. So, the variables of biomass consumption, ECI, and ICT improve the quality of the environment in Iran by reducing CO₂ emissions, and the per capita GDP variable increases CO₂ emissions. Results suggest no evidence indicating the presence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC); however, QR demonstrated the existence of EKCs in the lower quantiles of the conditional distribution. The ECI will have the most share to change the CO₂ emissions in the future. The income threshold should be determined at the turning point of the EKC to increase economic development. Moreover, investing in increasing biomass consumption is vital. Policymakers also need to consider strict added value for the export of products.

Determinants of load capacity factor in South Korea: does structural change matter?

By likening biocapacity and ecological footprint, the load capacity factor follows a specified ecological threshold, permitting for an in-depth analysis of ecological damage. It can be seen that as the load capacity factor is reduced, the ecological damage intensifies. Until now, scholars have used carbon dioxide, ecological footprint, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and other indices to objectively examine ecological problems. The utilization of these metrics can cause the supply side of ecological concerns to be overlooked. To make up for this weakness, this paper evaluates the impact of structural change and trade globalization on the load capacity factor. The research also considers other drivers of load capacity factors such as economic growth and energy. We utilized the nonparametric such as nonparametric causality and quantile-on-quantile (QQ) regression approaches to scrutinize these interconnections for South Korea between 1970 and 2018. The findings from the QQ approach disclosed that in the majority of the quantiles, the influence of economic growth, structural change, energies (renewable and nonrenewable), and trade globalization mitigate the load capacity factor. Moreover, the nonparametric causality test divulged that in variance and mean, all the independent variables can predict the load capacity factor. Policy proposals for South Korea's sustainable development are offered based on the findings.

Different impacts of democracy and income on carbon dioxide emissions: evidence from a panel quantile regression approach

The current research investigates the linear and non-linear effects of democracy and income levels on carbon dioxide emissions for 72 countries from 1993 to 2019. Considering the possibility that the impact of independent variables on carbon dioxide emissions may vary throughout the distribution of carbon dioxide emissions, the correlations between the variables are studied by the panel quantile regression method. The findings confirm the EKC hypothesis in countries having low and medium emissions and demonstrate an inverted U-shaped correlation between GDP and carbon dioxide emissions. In low- and medium-emission countries, a higher democracy level contributes to environmental quality, while it leads to increased carbon dioxide emissions in high-emission countries. On the contrary, it is remarkable that democracy causes a delay in the turning point of the EKC in countries with low and medium emissions. Furthermore, the results demonstrate an EKC correlation between democracy level and carbon dioxide emissions in countries with low and medium emissions. However, the correlation between democracy level and carbon dioxide emissions, which is inverted U-shaped in low- and medium-emission countries, turns into a U-shaped correlation in high-emission countries. These findings emphasize the necessity of considering the changing impact of democracy according to the emission structure of countries in policymaking.

Economic growth, technology, and CO2 emissions in BRICS: Investigating the non-linear impacts of economic complexity

Upgrading economic structures and producing less pollution-intensive goods are indispensable for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) that produce 41% of global CO₂ emissions. Economic complexity (ECC), which measures the sophistication of productivity and economic structure, has important environmental repercussions. Theoretically, the environmental impacts of economic complexity at higher levels and lower levels of complexity vary from each other. However, the majority of previous studies have overlooked these theoretical underpinnings while assessing the environmental repercussions of economic complexity. In addition, technological competencies are necessary to boost the economic complexity levels. Accordingly, this study uncovers the non-linear effects of economic complexity on CO₂ emissions including technology, population density, and economic growth in a STIRPAT model. To this end, the panel data from 1992 to 2018 is analyzed using the Continuously Updated Fully Modified method (CuP-FM) in the context of BRICS. The long-run results uncovered that CO₂ emissions intensify at a lower level of economic complexity. On the flip side, a higher level of economic complexity is beneficial in mitigating CO₂ in BRICS. Hence, the economic complexity and CO₂ connections follow an inverted U-shaped curve. The results also disclosed that expanding the level of technology lessens CO₂ and stimulates the quality of the environment. Further, population density and economic growth are evidenced to intensify CO₂. Moreover, economic complexity and technology Granger cause CO₂. Lastly, strategies are directed in the context of Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 13 to control CO₂ emissions by upgrading technology and products complexity.

Is there a relationship between natural gas consumption and the environmental Kuznets curve? Empirical evidence from Bangladesh

Bangladesh has significant natural gas reserves, and total demand has climbed substantially in recent years. The study uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model for cointegration and the vector autoregressive(VAR) Granger causality model to analyze a long-run link between natural gas (NG) consumption, economic development, urbanization, and CO₂ emissions. The objective is to investigate the relationship between the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and Bangladesh's NG consumption using data from the years 1990 to 2018. According to the ARDL model, economic growth, urbanization, and NG consumption, all have a positive and significant influence on CO₂ emissions. Despite having a negative coefficient, the square of economic development has a significant impact on CO₂ emissions. In the long run, it verifies the EKC hypothesis in Bangladesh. Both linear and nonlinear economic development determinants display statistically significant positive and negative signals in the short run. From Bangladesh's perspective, this also demonstrates the presence of an EKC. The impact of NG consumption in the short run is insignificant; nevertheless, urbanization has a significant effect. The VAR Granger causality demonstrates that economic development and urbanization have a bidirectional response; however, NG consumption and CO₂ emissions have just one-way causality. The key policy implication of the study is that NG use is expected to raise emissions. Increasing the share of clean energy in the energy utilization system, such as nuclear power and renewable energy, is a plausible policy choice.

Pathways towards environmental sustainability: exploring the influence of aggregate domestic consumption spending on carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan

The traditional literature has explored various factors including, but not limited to, trade openness, financial development, energy consumption, foreign direct investment, globalization, and per capita income that significantly contribute to carbon emissions. However, the current study identifies aggregate domestic consumption spending as a novel driver of carbon dioxide, employing the data for the period of 1973-2018 in Pakistan. To this end, we develop the theoretical framework to illustrate the link between aggregate domestic consumption spending and carbon dioxide emissions and deploy autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL), asymmetric ARDL, and the threshold non-linear ARDL (NARDL) techniques. The results of the ARDL method suggest that only in the short run, aggregate domestic consumption spending significantly affects carbon dioxide emissions. Furthermore, the findings of the NARDL approach reveal that the positive and negative shocks significantly deteriorate and ameliorate the environmental quality by increasing and decreasing the pollution, respectively, in the short and long run. Even though the outcome of the threshold NARDL technique supports the results of the aforementioned approaches, the novelty of the current study is to find out the threshold in aggregate domestic consumption spending, which carries a significant role in determining the carbon emissions in both periods. Besides, we infer that fossil fuels energy and trade openness also degrade the Pakistani climate by boosting atmospheric pollution. Additionally, the application of the asymmetric Granger causality test validates the results by asserting the casual relationship between aggregate domestic consumption spending and carbon dioxide emissions. Based on the results, we suggest the authorities to start to promote the deployment of green products publicly to obtain green and sustainable development.

Roadmap for carbon neutrality: the mediating role of clean energy development-related investments

Recently, the Japanese government has announced the national objective of turning the economy of Japan carbon-neutral by 2050. This declaration has therefore enhanced the imperativeness of replacing the use of unclean energy with cleaner alternatives so that the carbon-neutrality agenda can be attained in due course. Against this backdrop, this study aims to assess whether enhancing government investments in research and development for developing clean energy can help Japan curb its carbon dioxide emission figures. In addition, the analysis also controls for the environmental effects of clean electricity output, economic growth, international trade, financial globalization, and urbanization on Japan's carbon dioxide emission figures. The cointegration test results confirm long-run relationships between all these variables. Besides, the regression results showed that scaling-up research and development-related investments for clean energy development reduces carbon dioxide emissions only in the long run. Similar emission-inhibiting impacts are also evidenced to be associated with greater output of clean energy-fired electricity. Moreover, it is also observed that higher clean energy development-related investments play a mediating role in amplifying the carbon dioxide emission-reducing effects of clean electricity generation in the long run. In addition, economic growth is seen to dampen environmental quality by triggering higher emissions of carbon dioxide both in the short and long run. Simultaneously, enhancing openness to international trade and greater urbanization is found to boost the carbon dioxide emission figures of Japan. However, an influx of foreign direct investments is not observed to influence carbon dioxide emissions in Japan, neither in the short run nor in the long run. Accordingly, concerning the achievement of carbon neutrality goal by 2050, these findings emphasize the importance of boosting clean energy development-related investments, increasing clean electricity output, greening economic activities, reducing the trade of unclean commodities, adopting environmentally sustainable urbanization policies, and facilitating the influx of clean foreign direct investments within the Japanese economy.

Reinvestigating the pollution haven hypothesis: the nexus between foreign direct investments and environmental quality in G-20 countries

One of the most commonly debated concerns regarding foreign direct investment inflows is the associated environmental adversities that accompany the influx of foreign funds. As a result, assessing the environmental impacts of foreign direct investment inflows is necessary for achieving environmentally friendly economic growth in the contemporary era. Accordingly, the global economies including the members of the Group of Twenty (G-20) should focus on attracting clean foreign direct investments. Against this backdrop, controlling for energy consumption and urbanization, this extant study scrutinizes the effects of foreign direct investment inflows on the carbon dioxide emission figures of selected G-20 countries between 1992 and 2018. The econometric analysis conducted in this paper involves recently developed methods that are efficient in handling cross-sectionally dependent heterogeneous panel data sets. Besides, the analysis is also conducted for sub-panels of high-, upper-middle-, and lower-middle-income G-20 countries to evaluate the possible heterogeneous environmental effects across the G-20 countries belonging to different income levels. Overall, the results highlight that higher foreign direct investment inflows surge carbon dioxide emissions whereby the pollution haven hypothesis is evidenced to hold for the G-20 nations of concern. Similarly, both at the aggregated and disaggregated levels, greater consumption of energy is witnessed to boost carbon dioxide emissions in the long run. Moreover, urbanization is found to trigger carbon dioxide emissions for the G-20 nations overall and the lower-middle-income G-20 nations. Further, the causality analysis reveals that carbon dioxide emissions have bidirectional causal relationships with foreign direct investment inflows, energy consumption, and urbanization. In line with these major findings, this study recommends that the governments of the G-20 countries inhibit inflows of dirty foreign direct investments, reduce fossil fuel dependency, and adopt green urbanization policies for achieving higher economic growth without marginalizing environmental well-being.