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[Display omitted] • The determinants of the load capacity factor are investigated in top SDGs nations. • Distributional heterogeneity controlled using novel Method of Moments Quantile Regression. • Technology, renewable energy, globalization and environmental tax increase the load capacity factor. • Economic growth curb load capacity factor. • Interaction between renewable energy and technology innovation reduces load capacity factor level. The acceptance of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 shifted the consideration toward sustainability-linked aspects in both developed and developing nations. Currently, the most critical ecological and economic problems are associated to ecological contamination and sustainability. Thus, this current study employs load capacity factor (LCF), a comprehensive ecological assessment tool that captures both the ecological foot (demand side) and biocapacity (supply side) of the ecosystem to scrutinize the effect of environmental taxes, technological innovation and renewable energy on LCF while regulatory for globalization and economic progress in the case of top ten SDGs nations. The paper used MMQR to capture the influence of each variable at different quantiles from 1994 to 2018. The study's outcome shows that technology innovation, environmental Tax, renewable energy and globalization are negative and significant in reducing LCF within the countries. Again, the study exposed that economic growth contributes positively to LCF. However, the interaction term between technology innovation and renewable energy upsurges the LCF across all the quantiles. Moreover, the panel Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality test results revealed a one-way causality exists between economic growth and LCF, running from economic growth to LCF. The outcomes of this research will have a significant impact on the route that policymakers in these nations take in reaching net zero emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The drivers of ecological footprint are investigated in G-7 nations. • Air transportation increases environmental pollution. • Green technology, environmental tax and globalization curb emissions. • Interaction between air transportation and green technology reduces the emission level. Attaining sustainability has become one of the central goals, and environmental sustainability has received wider attention from policymakers due to its apparent significance. To attain environmental sustainability, developed nations have adopted various pro-environmental interventions, aiming to curb emissions intensities across all sectors directly or indirectly entangled with the environment. In this milieu, the air transportation sector, which is believed to exert a perilous impression on environmental integrity, has received scant attention from scholars. Moreover, the scholarship on the emissions-mediating role of environmental innovation in the air transportation sector is still very nascent. Given that the transportation sector, specifically air transport, plays a crucial role in making commuting easy, the curtailment of the emissions intensities in this sector could have an astounding positive impression on environmental sustainability. Adopting eco-friendly innovations can be a potent way to attain green transportation in the air transportation sector. Thus, the present study investigates the impact of air transportation, globalization, environmental tax, and green innovation on the ecological footprint in the G7 countries from 1994 to 2020 using the novel MMQR approach. Findings reveal that environmental tax, green innovation, and globalization play a key role in mitigating environmental pollution while air transportation accelerates emissions. Furthermore, the interaction of air transportation and green innovation was found to significantly mitigate environmental contamination, thereby proving an effective way to decarbonize the air transportation sector in the G7 countries. The findings suggest the need to invest extensively in eco-friendly technologies, especially in the air transportation sector, support globalization, and consolidate the existing environmental tax system to meet the ecological sustainability target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Macroeconomic determinants of ecological footprint in top nuclear energy nations. • Nuclear energy, military expenditure and human capital help to reduce the environmental decay. • The N shaped EKC hypothesis is valid for the top nuclear energy nations. Regardless of the ongoing debate, the shape of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis plays a critical role in determining the dynamic relationship between environmental sustainability and economic activities across different nations of the world. It is widely accepted that with cleaner fuel options (i.e., nuclear and renewables), economic amelioration will have the least negative environmental externalities. Banking on this matter, it is anticipated that the top nuclear energy-producing nations might have obtained environmental sustainability amid the eye-catching incessant economic amelioration. In other words, we expect that there exists an inverted U-shaped EKC among these nuclear energy-rich nations. However, the hypothesis that an N-shaped EKC does not exist among these nations is yet to be scrutinized. To address this research gap, we have deployed annual time-series data from 1990 to 2018 and adopted the novel Dynamic Common Correlated Effects Approach. The results unearth that the N-shaped EKC hypothesis is valid in the case of the top nuclear energy-producing nations, revealing that the energy sector that is fueling the economic growth among these nations is still highly dependent on fossil-based sources. We also noted that nuclear energy generation ameliorates environmental quality among the designated countries. Additionally, the empirical results further delineate that military spending and human capital are negatively associated with ecological footprint among the selected nations, revealing that national security and education can help reshape, rebound and restore the biocapacity surplus among the designated countries. We propose that the chosen nations develop a more biased energy mix structure with more nuclear and renewable energy sources in the basket to keep the growth process untapped. By doing this, the N-shaped EKC can be avoided. Further policy insights have been made in the relevant section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]