Green technology, green electricity, and environmental sustainability in Western European countries

Sustainable development through green transition in EU countries: New evidence from panel quantile regression

Sustainable development addresses global challenges by promoting practices that balance economic, social, and environmental considerations. Key factors include the shifting to green energy and the integrating of green technology in the sustainable development process. This study investigates the heterogenous effects of green technology development, green energy, R&D expenditures, FDI, economic growth, and urbanization on CO2 emissions in 25 European Union (EU) countries using panel quantile regression over the period 2000-2021. The results, based on panel quantile regression, indicate that green energy decreases CO2 emissions from the 10th to the 90th quantiles, while green technology development increases CO2 emissions at the lower quantiles (10th to 60th) and then turns negative. The robustness of the fixed effect model also confirms the findings of the study. Additionally, panel causality tests indicate no causal link between green technology development and CO2 emissions, but there is bidirectional causality between green energy and CO2 emissions. Therefore, the findings highlight that policymakers should thoroughly evaluate measures and strategies to encourage the development of green technologies and green energy sources to reduce high levels of CO2 emissions. One strategy is to provide financial aid and support technological advances to produce green energy at reduced costs.

Breathing in danger: Understanding the multifaceted impact of air pollution on health impacts

Air pollution, a pervasive environmental threat that spans urban and rural landscapes alike, poses significant risks to human health, exacerbating respiratory conditions, triggering cardiovascular problems, and contributing to a myriad of other health complications across diverse populations worldwide. This article delves into the multifarious impacts of air pollution, utilizing cutting-edge research methodologies and big data analytics to offer a comprehensive overview. It highlights the emergence of new pollutants, their sources, and characteristics, thereby broadening our understanding of contemporary air quality challenges. The detrimental health effects of air pollution are examined thoroughly, emphasizing both short-term and long-term impacts. Particularly vulnerable populations are identified, underscoring the need for targeted health risk assessments and interventions. The article presents an in-depth analysis of the global disease burden attributable to air pollution, offering a comparative perspective that illuminates the varying impacts across different regions. Furthermore, it addresses the economic ramifications of air pollution, quantifying health and economic losses, and discusses the implications for public policy and health care systems. Innovative air pollution intervention measures are explored, including case studies demonstrating their effectiveness. The paper also brings to light recent discoveries and insights in the field, setting the stage for future research directions. It calls for international cooperation in tackling air pollution and underscores the crucial role of public awareness and education in mitigating its impacts. This comprehensive exploration serves not only as a scientific discourse but also as a clarion call for action against the invisible but insidious threat of air pollution, making it a vital read for researchers, policymakers, and the general public.

Symphony of sustainability: how technology similarity impacts international trade patterns in environmental goods

The global consensus on sustainable development and environmental cooperation has prompted the promotion of trade in environmental goods (EGs) for green growth. This study delves into the diversity of EGs trade patterns, using decomposed environmental technology similarity indicators to reveal the technological drivers. Linking innovation indicators to trade performance in EGs provides new insights into the determinants of inequality in environmental governance cooperation. Based on an extended gravity model, we empirically analyze their impact on bilateral EGs trade flows among 176 countries over the period 2002-2019. The study finds that (1) the global EGs trade network presents a "core-periphery" structure, with increased network density and participation of developing countries. (2) Technology similarity contributes significantly to EGs trade. Compared to competition, technology complementarity has a greater impact on EGs trade flows. (3) The influence of technology similarity varies across trade patterns and product complexity explains the mechanisms, with technology complementarity promoting more trade in high-complexity products, mainly concentrated in the trade from Northern countries, while technology competition greatly promotes the export of low-complexity products from the South. (4) Technology similarity helps to overcome information barriers in EGs trade, and its trade-enhancing effects exhibit geographical regionalization. The findings offer empirical evidence on the technological drivers of EGs trade and provide policy implications for fostering inclusive global environmental governance and enhancing the competitive advantages of Southern countries, fostering more opportunities for green growth.

Has green finance boosted regional electricity consumption? Based on nighttime light data

Green finance is gradually becoming essential to enhancing regional electricity consumption. This paper uses panel data from 30 Chinese provinces and regions from 2011 to 2021 and develops a system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and a mediating effect model to test the effects of green finance on regional electricity consumption level and the mechanism of action. The results show that green finance significantly boosts regional electricity consumption level, which still holds after various robustness tests. In terms of heterogeneity, the promotion effect of green finance on electricity consumption is significantly more substantial in the Eastern regions than in the central and western regions; the regions with a higher level of urbanisation are more robust than those with a lower level of urbanisation, and the regions with a higher level of the advanced industrial structure are stronger than those with a lower level. In terms of impact mechanisms, both foreign direct investment and green technology innovation have partial mediating effects on the impact of green finance on regional electricity consumption level. Green finance raises the level of regional electricity consumption by increasing the level of green technology innovation. At the same time, foreign direct investment has a "substitution effect" on the impact of green finance on regional electricity consumption. Therefore, it is essential to increase green financial policy support to raise regional electricity consumption, help upgrade electricity consumption, and help achieve the "double carbon goal".

The impact of green finance on industrial pollution emissions: Empirical evidence from economic and environmental perspectives

Green finance can make full use of financial instruments to control industrial pollution emissions, thus becoming an important initiative to balance ecological environment and economic growth. Based on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces, this study adopts a fixed effect model to test the impact of green finance on industrial pollution emissions, followed by the application of instrumental variables, a GMM dynamic panel, and exogenous shock tests to ensure the robustness of the benchmark results. The results indicate that green finance is capable of controlling the total amount and intensity of industrial pollution emissions, that is to say, to realize the "double control" of industrial pollution emissions, taking into account economic growth and environmental protection. The mediating effect model concludes that green finance can influence industrial pollution emissions through green technology innovation and industrial structure upgrading, but the impact of these two mechanisms on the total amount and intensity of industrial pollution emissions has its own focus. Heterogeneity analysis shows that green finance is more significant in reducing the intensity of industrial pollution emissions in resource-general areas and areas with high levels of information technology, and the shift from controlling the total amount indicator to the intensity indicator implies that green finance is more effective in promoting economic growth while protecting the environment. Our empirical findings offer important policy implications for reducing industrial pollution emissions from both economic and environmental perspectives.

Can Green-Technology Innovation Reduce Atmospheric Environmental Pollution?

Rapid economic growth leads to such problems as resource scarcity and environmental degradation. Local governments successively take measures such as technological innovation to solve atmospheric environmental pollution; however, technological innovation fails to fundamentally alleviate atmospheric environmental pollution. Therefore, local governments come to realize the importance of green-technology innovation, which means an inevitable choice for various countries in the world to seek long-term development and win competitive advantage. Under such circumstances, this paper chooses the panel data of 30 provinces and regions in China from 2005 to 2018, takes environmental regulation as the threshold variable, and empirically analyzes the relationship between green-technology innovation and atmospheric environmental pollution by constructing a Spatial Measurement Model and Panel Regression Model. As evinced, green-technology innovation has a significant inhibitory effect and a spatial spillover effect on atmospheric environmental pollution. When environmental regulation reaches a level of intensity, green-technology innovation can effectively curb atmospheric environmental pollution. Accordingly, relevant parties should strengthen green-technology innovation, coordinate the development of the governance system of green-technology innovation, establish a joint prevention and control mechanism, increase the investment in green technology research and development, and augment the role of green-technology innovation.