Sustainable environment, energy and finance in China: evidence from dynamic modelling using carbon emissions and ecological footprints

Ecological footprint in the OECD countries: do energy efficiency and renewable energy matter?

Ecological footprint (EFP) measures the amount of area, that is land or sea, which is required to absorb the waste generated through human activities or to support the production of resources consumed by populations. EFP index therefore includes six dimensions that are cropland, forestland, carbon, fishing grounds, grazing land, and built-up area. Human activities have impacted the environment, leading to global warming, widespread droughts, and diseases. The present study aims to investigate the role of renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency on the EFP index. Past researchers have widely used carbon emission (CE) to represent environmental impact, and recent studies have shown that EFP index is a better proxy of environmental degradation. Therefore, the present research differs from past studies in that it compares on how the determinants of environmental degradation affects EFP index and CE. Panel dataset of the OECD countries from 1990 to 2020 is employed. The CS-ARDL, DCCEMG, and AMG techniques, which overcome dynamics, heterogeneity, and cross-sectional dependence, are employed. The main findings depict that RE significantly reduces EFP and CE, while economic growth significantly exacerbates them. Energy efficiency reduces CE, but does not significantly affect EFP. Non-renewable energy and research & development significantly increase CE, while an insignificant positive effect is observed with EFP. This paper shows that factors that significantly influence CE may not always significantly affect the EFP index. Thus, to reduce environmental degradation it is fundamental to understand on how each dimension of EFP is influenced.

The role forest resources, energy efficiency, and renewable energy in promoting environmental quality

At a time when environmental concerns are rising in the world, natural resources, such as trees and other green plants, remain the most crucial factors responsible for reducing environmental degradation. Green plants inhale carbon dioxide and prevent the soil from wash and wear, hence their significant role in enhancing environmental quality. Therefore, it is essential to come up with state-of-the-art researches on the role of green plants to the environment. The present research is aimed at adding to the growing body of literature by investigating the effect of forest resources, together with renewable energy and energy efficiency in enhancing environmental quality. In this research, we use the data of the seven emerging countries, seven developed nations and 15 developing west African nations, from 1990 to 2019. The current research adds to the growing body of literature in that it presents a comparative analysis of the three important economic blocks, as well as employing three major methodologies of data analysis, the CS-ARDL, AMG, and CCEMG techniques, which are strong over cross-sectional dependence, heterogeneity, and dynamics. Major research outcomes show that renewable energy and energy efficiency negatively affects carbon emissions, while gross domestic product positively affects carbon emissions in all three regions. Population size and forest resources reduces carbon emissions in the emerging countries and seven developed countries, respectively. Non-renewable energy promotes carbon emissions in the seven developed countries, while in the emerging countries it reduces emissions. This research recommends the efficient utilization of energy, use of renewable energy, and forest preservation to promote carbon neutrality goal.

Can green finance, green technologies, and environmental policy stringency leverage sustainability in China: evidence from quantile-ARDL estimation

Environmental sustainability is an umbrella approach depending on various climatic and economic policies. In doing so, the current study empirically evaluates the role of green finance, eco-innovation, and environmental policy stringency on the ecological footprint in China. To meet the objectives, the novel quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) approach was employed from 2000 to 2017. The outcomes reveal heterogeneous associations between the proposed variables. Manifestly, the QARDL estimation results demonstrate a positive impact between eco-innovation, green finance, and environmental policy stringency with the ecological footprints of China; however, the extent of the relationship is quantile dependent. The outcomes are further validated through the Wald test of parameter constancy. The bi-direction causality is observed among all variables at several quantiles. The current study offers policymakers helpful suggestions on enhancing the positive effects of environmentally supported innovation, green finance, and stringent environmental policies on the ecosystem.

Coupling Evaluation and Spatial-Temporal Evolution of Land Ecosystem Services and Economic-Social Development in a City Group: The Case Study of the Chengdu-Chongqing City Group

The Chengdu-Chongqing city group (CCCG) is one of the regions with acute human-land conflicts in China at present. The current rapid development of CCCG has caused a large negative impact on regional land ecosystem services. Land ecosystem is the basis of economic development. Reasonable economic development is also the inherent requirement of land ecosystem and an important support for land ecosystem protection. Promoting the coordinated development of the economy and land ecosystems is a prerequisite for this city group to achieve ecological protection and high-quality development. Taking CCCG as an example, this paper constructs a coupling evaluation model of economic-social development and land ecosystem service by using the entropy weight method, coupling coordination degree model, gravity center model, and standard deviation ellipse model, and explores the coupling coordination degree and spatial-temporal evolution rule of the above two systems. The study found that, from 2005 to 2020, the overall economic-social development of the CCCG showed an upward trend with a regular pattern of a 'High in the east and west, low in the central', and the 'dual-core' spatial structure with Chengdu and Chongqing as the core ; the overall performance of land ecosystem services had a gentle slope downward trend with a 'U'-shaped spatial pattern of "high around and low in the middle". The results also show that the coupling coordination degree of economic-social development and land ecosystem services in CCCG continues to rise steadily. Overall, the level of coupling coordination is low, and the type of coupling coordination has gradually evolved from severe and moderate imbalance to moderate coordination and mild imbalance. Therefore, the CCCG should make full use of the advantages of the "dual-core" cities to improve the level of peripheral economic linkage, increase investment in science and technology to enhance the endogenous power of economic development, establish cooperation mechanisms to narrow the urban gap, and integrate ecological resources to promote ecological industrialization to better realize the synergistic promotion of land ecological protection and high-quality economic development.