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China's pulp and paper industry (CPPI) has been always the main carbon emission source in recent years. However, the analysis on influencing factors of carbon emissions from this industry is insufficient. To address the issue, the CO 2 emissions from CPPI are estimated in the period of 2005-2019, the driving factors of CO 2 emissions are investigated by the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) method, the decoupling state of economic growth and CO 2 emissions is determined by Tapio decoupling model, and finally, future CO 2 emissions are predicted under four scenarios by the STIRPAT model to explore the potential of carbon peaking. The results show that CPPI exhibits a rapid increase and a fluctuating downward trend in CO 2 emissions during the period of 2005-2013 and 2014-2019, respectively. The main promoting and inhibiting factors to the increase of CO 2 emission are per capita industrial output value and energy intensity, respectively. There are five decoupling states of CO 2 emissions and economic growth during the study period, and the CO 2 emissions exhibit a weak decoupling state with the industrial output value growth in most years of the study period. It is very difficult to realize the carbon peaking goal by 2030 under the baseline and fast development scenarios. Therefore, efficient low carbon and strong low-carbon development policies are necessary and urgent for the realization of carbon peaking goal and the sustainable development of CPPI., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Using historical data on energy from (Malanima 2020) and GDP from the Maddison Project Database, this paper investigates the energy-growth nexus in a less-studied region, mainly Australia and New Zealand, since 1870. The long annual series allow meaningful application of recently developed time-varying and quantile Granger causality analysis. Results indicate that there is a bi-directional Granger causal relationship between economic growth and energy, coal, and oil consumption at both ends of the distribution, and during various time periods over the past 150 years. Little evidence is found on the Granger causal relationship from gas consumption to economic growth, but some evidence on the direction from economic growth to gas consumption. The Granger causal relationships between electricity consumption and GDP change over time, but results suggest much closer links between the two in most recent decades, and big (positive and negative) changes in electricity consumption significantly Granger causes economic growth., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The existing scholarly discourse surrounding the energy transition has long operated on the assumption of perfect displacement of non-renewable energy. However, an evolving set of studies highlights an intricate web of inefficiencies and complexities that prevent the perfect displacement of fossil fuel energy with renewable energy production. Since this could carry serious implications for the environmental targets of several economies, it is crucial to accurately and continuously measure the actual extent of fossil fuel displacement. Within this framework, this study empirically investigates the extent of non-renewable energy displacement by renewable energy for a balanced panel of seven Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries between 1989 and 2015. The outcome function also controls for globalisation, real GDP per capita, and crude oil prices. After implementing the necessary diagnostics, the panel cointegration establishes a significant long-run relationship among the selected variables. The PMG-ARDL estimation indicates that renewable energy production and globalisation significantly reduce the fossil fuel energy production, whereas real GDP per capita and crude oil prices induce it positively. However, the coefficient of renewable energy production is only - 0.39, indicating that more than 2.5 units of renewable electricity are necessary to displace a unit of non-renewable energy. As such, this study concludes that the current energy transition in Asia-Pacific region is not perfect. These results are robust to the usage of the FGLS estimation technique. The study suggests the adoption of a new energy transition that allows greater displacement of fossil fuel energy as well as gradual reduction in overall energy use., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In the complex international society, the economic development and defense construction of BRICS countries have attracted increasing attention. This article incorporates technological innovation, militarization, and environmental change into a unified analytical framework to assess the potential impact of technological progress and defense military expenditure on the environment in BRICS countries. Based on CSD tests, unit root tests, and cointegration tests, this study constructs a CS-ARDL model to examine the long-term and short-term relationships among various variables from 1990 to 2021. The results show that technological innovation, military expenditure, and economic growth can significantly increase ecological footprint in the long run, while in the short term, technological innovation and economic growth significantly increase ecological footprint, and the impact of military expenditure is not significant. It is suggested that BRICS countries should focus on supporting low-carbon technology policies and research and development investment, while also considering the use of cutting-edge technology to improve military intelligence capabilities in order to reduce the negative impact of technological innovation and military activities on the environment., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Renewable energy has gained significant attention due to the growing concern for environmental sustainability and the high reliance on energy imports in European countries. In this study, we use a two- stage approach to assess renewable energy efficiency (REEF) of European countries. Initially, we employ the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to quantify the efficiency of renewable energy. Subsequently, we investigate the factors influencing REEF between 2005 and 2020. Our findings reveal a generally high level of REEF across European countries, but some countries have become worse in this regard (e.g., France, Ukraine, Russia, Belgium, Germany, Norway, and Serbia). In order to find the causes of these changes, we considered the explanatory variables of gross domestic product (GDP), energy price, renewable energy consumption, information and communications technology (ICT), and industrial value added in a spatial system generalized method of moments (spatial SYS-GMM) model. The findings provide confirmation of the spatial spillover effects of REEF within European countries. The strongest positive effect is related to energy prices. In simpler terms, as energy prices rise, the efficiency of renewable energy has increased in European countries. Additionally, ICT and renewable energy consumption have positive impacts, too. But GDP and industrial value added, have decreasing effects. Based on these findings, we put forth several policy suggestions aimed at enhancing the efficiency of renewable energy in European countries., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper aims to measure the impact of environmental provisions in free-trade agreements on pollution levels in 40 Asian economies for the period 1990-2019. Following the failure of WTO negotiations, there has been a rapid proliferation of preferential trade agreements incorporating various types of environmental clauses. We exploit such changes to assess their influence on pollution emissions. We use a DOLS approach that considers the potential endogeneity of environmental clauses. Further, panel vector error correction models (VECM) are employed for examining the presence of a cointegration relationship among the variables studied. Overall, our findings indicate that these environmental clauses have heterogenous effects on CO 2 emissions. We do not find significant effects of environmental clauses on pollution. However, this result is driven by environmental provisions that are not legally enforceable. We do find a positive effect of environmental clauses with a higher level of legalism on the environmental quality. These results show that the inclusion of environmental provisions in trade agreements is not sufficient by itself. Such provisions should incorporate a legally enforceable framework to effectively address environmental concerns. These findings have significant policy implications for Asian countries., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Understanding the complex interactions between the economy and the environment is crucial for promoting sustainable development and mitigating the negative impact of human activities on the Planet. The importance of this issue for Serbia is evident as the country strives to balance economic growth and environmental protection to ensure a sustainable and resilient future. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to investigate and model the relationship between CO 2 emissions, economic growth, electricity consumption, and trade openness in Serbia. Initially, an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is used to characterize the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) using data from the period from 1995 to 2019, followed by the construction of a bootstrap logistic regression model to predict environmental quality in Serbia. Long-term estimates of the model confirm an inverted U-shaped relationship, where all three variables exert a statistically significant influence on CO 2 emissions. In the short run, however, a causal relationship is only observed between electricity consumption and CO 2 emissions. The logistic regression results show that all three factors significantly influence environmental quality. The study proposes policy recommendations for Serbia, such as promoting sustainable economic growth, implementing long-term programs to reduce CO 2 emissions, reviewing trade policies to prioritize sustainable practices, and investing in renewable energy sources to reduce emissions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Bilateral debt swap is an innovative global financing mechanism designed to support heavily indebted countries (HICs). It is a debt-restructuring process involving donor countries forgiving debt owed by HICs in exchange for commitments to undertake projects on environment and socio-economic development. It is a unique approach designed to help heavily indebted countries get back on their feet. Effective debt swap financing can lead to both economic growth and environment sustainability, but they are challenging to implement. This study examines the impact of bilateral debt swap financing on economic growth and environment sustainability. For the purpose, we have used debt swap index developed with Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) methodology. KMO widely used approach of Principle Component Analysis (PCA) to solve the problem of "over-identification" and make strong correlation among endogenous variables of interest. In order to validate the nexus empirically between bilateral debt swap financing with economic growth and environment sustainability, we have employed the Two-Step System Generalized Method of Moments (SYS-GMM) approach in 25 countries for the period of 2002 to 2021. This modern econometric method addresses endogeneity issues and controls for unobserved heterogeneity in panel data. At the same time, the technique addresses the simultaneity problem, reverse causality, and remove selection bias. Findings of the study shows that effective bilateral debt swap financing can boost economic growth and environment sustainability by investing domestic resources for targeted activities along with reduced debt burden. Empirical results reveal that 1% change in debt swap financing can lead to a maximum of 0.23% growth in the economy and 0.28% improvement in environment sustainability. However, it is important to note that in most empirical specifications, results are inconclusive. One possible reason for this is often ineffective debt swap practices coupled with inadequate monitoring and evaluation in HICs. Policymakers should focus on enhancing debt swap policies to promote economic growth and environment sustainability., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Technological innovation is considered one of the most significant production variables. The influence of natural resource rents on this factor is crucial to the success of nations' sustainability with abundant natural resources. Driven by a theoretical argument, this research investigates the impact of natural resource rents on technological innovation by engaging the "instrumental variable fixed-effect method." With "Driscoll-Kraay's robust standard errors," the research accounts for "cross-sectional dependency" in a panel of 79 economies from 1995 to 2021. The empirical results confirm that natural resource rents positively and significantly impact innovation measured with trademark and patent applications. The findings also indicate that the components of natural resource rents, such as oil and natural gas rents, significantly promote technological innovation. The findings also indicate the roles of human development, financial development, and trade economies in the impact of natural resource rents on technological innovation. Due to heterogeneity, the analysis categorizes countries based on their economic development into "developed," "transition," and "developing" economies. The article finishes with policy implications, arguing that natural resource rent support a more resource-efficient economy and move toward a more circular economy targeted for sustainability. Therefore, emerging markets that initiate natural resource rents can support human capital and financial services through financial sector development and trade in maximizing technological innovation., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Energy is the most critical input for production and consumption. The inputs of energy cause irreversible damage to the environment. The studies carried out to reduce the environmental impact of the methods used in energy production are extremely valuable. This study aims to reveal the effects of technological development, nuclear energy consumption, and renewable energy use on environmental degradation. The patent numbers, technological development, GDP, renewable energy, and nuclear energy consumption data of 16 OECD countries covering the years 1996-2019 were used in the empirical analysis. The findings of panel FMOLS and DOLS methods reveal that technological progress, nuclear, and renewable energy consumption significantly reduce CO 2 emissions. In line with these findings, critical policy implications have been suggested., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Energy is considered the engine of growth due to its indispensable role in fueling economic activities. However, energy is one of the primary contributors to environmental degradation. In addition, conventional energy sources are depleting quickly due to the over-consumption of these sources, raising the issue of energy security. The solution to these above-stated issues is increasing renewable energy consumption. There is evidence that service sector development, private sector development, and human resource management help improve energy efficiency; however, their role in increasing renewable energy demand is debatable. This analysis fills the vacuum by examining the effect of service sector development, private sector development, and human resource management on renewable energy demand across four major regions: Asia, America, Africa, and Europe, spanning from 1998 to 2021. The analysis depends on the CS-ARDL model that can estimate the short and long-run results by addressing the model's cross-sectional dependence. The model estimates confirm that service sector development, private sector, and financial development escalate the long-run renewable energy consumption in all regions except Africa. Human resource enhances renewable energy consumption globally, in Europe and America. Likewise, GDP and carbon emissions stimulate long-run renewable energy consumption in all regions; however, trade only encourages renewable energy consumption globally and in Europe. The service sector development, financial development, carbon emissions, and trade significantly encourage short-run renewable energy consumption in one or two regions. In contrast, the GDP positively and significantly connects to the short-run renewable energy consumption in almost all regions. Therefore, policymakers should focus on increasing the role of human resources, services, and private sector development in the economy., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) economies have yet to meaningfully contribute to accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7) affordable and clean energy, (SDG 8) decent work and economic growth, and (SDG 13) climate action. Dealing with this issue might require a shift or alteration of policy framework that is the major theme of this study. Consequently, this present research inspects the influence of economic growth, transportation, tourism sector development, and renewable energy on ecological footprint using panel time series from 1990 and 2019 for the BIMSTEC region. To evaluate this dynamic nexus between the mentioned environmental pollution drivers of ecological footprint, this study employed the augumented mean group (AMG) and common correlated effect mean group (CCEMG) regression estimators after detection of cross-sectional dependency. The empirical outcomes denote that economic growth and transportation sector of BIMSTEC countries increase the levels of ecological footprint. Conversely, tourism sector development, globalization, and renewable energy protect the ecological excellence in the region. Moreover, it is observed that a unidirectional causality exists from economic growth to ecological footprint, ecological footprint to transportation, tourism to ecological footprint, and globalization to ecological footprint, while bidirectional causality exists between renewable energy and ecological footprint. By observing the positive function of tourism, green energy, and globalization on sustainable environment progress, central authorities are capable to redesign policies concerning supportable efficient technologies and regulate globalization towards green programs and agenda to reduce global warming., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This research work contributes to the literature by examining the role of energy consumption in mitigating poverty via decomposing energy consumption into its positive and negative components, covering the period spanning from 1985 to 2017. To accomplish this objective, this study employs the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) approach recently popularized by Shin et al., (2014). The NARDL approach is well-suited to our study becuase of its capability to delineate hidden asymmetries. The empirical findings reveal the prevalence of long-run associations among the studied variables. The outcomes show that an increase (decrease) in energy consumption combats (augments) poverty in Pakistan. The empirical findings underscore that the decreasing effect of energy consumption on poverty is found to be more promising than its increasing effect, both in the long and short run. Based on the empirical outcomes, we suggest that the policymakers, and other stakeholders should consider the asymmetric or nonlinear behavior of the studied variables for better poverty policy-making in Pakistan., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Currently, global warming and air pollution are the world's most urgent issues partly caused by carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions, and prompt actions are needed to address these global concerns. Sustainable development cannot be attained until we reverse the negative impact of economic factors on the quality of the environment. It is noteworthy to offer a new indication on whether and how the empirical liaison between product diversification and environmental degradation evolved in China from 2008 to 2019. Product diversification (PD) is a remedy for reducing environmental degradation (ED). It is a crucial component of energy demand, which a significant impact on reducing energy consumption and ED. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of PD on ED in China using the provincial panel dataset. Employing the fixed effects-Driscoll-Kraay standard errors (FE-DKSE) and feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) methods, we discover an inverted U-shaped link between PD and ED. The control variable urbanization (URB) and technological innovation (TI) reduce ED significantly. However, industry value added (IVA) and energy consumption (EC) promote ED. Our results are robust with the addition of various controls in all models. The policy implication from our findings is that, to achieve a target of carbon neutrality, countries should adopt the product diversification strategy., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

High population, energy consumption, industrialization, and environmental degradation are inherently linked, making the study of ecological footprints in the most populous countries crucial for understanding their environmental impact and guiding efforts to minimize ecological degradation through sustainable resource management and conservation. Therefore, this study examines the effects of disaggregated energy consumption, industrialization, and total population on the ecological footprint of the world's top 10 most populous countries namely Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, and the USA, using data for the period of 1990-2020. The research employs Kao and Pedroni techniques of cointegration to determine whether the variables are cointegrated in the long run. The long-term equilibrium association is measured utilizing panel autoregressive distributed lag/pooled mean group (ARDL/PMG), and method of moment quantile (MMQ) regression methods. Furthermore, to test for the causal relationships between the selected variables, we used the Dumitrescu and Hurlin (D-H) panel causality method. The findings of the study reveal that renewable energy consumption, as well as GDP square, have a significant negative influence on ecological footprint, implying that renewable energy and GDP square reduce ecological footprint and thus enhance environmental quality. Furthermore, non-renewable energy, industrialization, total population, and GDP have a detrimental impact on environmental quality by increasing ecological footprint. It is also found that there is a one-way causality from non-renewable energy and industrialization to ecological footprint and a bidirectional causal relationship between ecological footprint and total population, GDP, and GDP 2 . Important policy implications are drawn based on the findings., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The globe has faced severe challenges recently, and environmental deterioration has become more prominent. Therefore, the world has taken several initiatives to deal with environmental issues while the problem remains intact. Interestingly, the OECD economies are the leading example to understand the accurate picture of sustainability across the near regions. This study makes an effort to introduce the core factors such as economic development, renewable energy, tourism, natural resources, and innovations in OECD economies over the period of 2000-2021. Similarly, to investigate the study's objectives, this study employs the quantile autoregressive distributed lag model (Q-ARDL). The analyzed results show the significant contribution of renewable energy, tourism, and natural resources to environmental sustainability. In contrast, income and innovations contribute to ecological deterioration. Moreover, the quantile causality is being used by this empirical study to investigate the causal association among studied variables. However, using green energy in sustainable tourism is highly recommended for specified economies. In order to deal with environmental pressure, this research proposes green implications to attain the desired sustainability level., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The Middle East and North African (MENA) economies experienced substantial economic fluctuations due to variations in carbon emissions and energy use. For this purpose, the present study examines the factors influencing carbon emissions in MENA economies, particularly economic growth and energy use. To this end, this study disaggregates economic growth into three sectors (agriculture, industry, and services) and energy use into renewable and non-renewable, and examines their environmental impacts by including the roles of urbanization and trade openness in the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) framework. This study uses panel data from 16 MENA countries over the period 1990-2018 to estimate the short-run and long-run coefficients and the Granger causality between the variables. The empirical results using the Mean Augmented Group (AMG) and the Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCE-MG) revealed that (i) the signs of GDP per capita and its squared scores validate the EKC hypothesis only at the aggregate level; (ii) the coefficients of sectoral GDP show that the industry and services sectors have the highest contributions to carbon emissions in the MENA region; (iii) non-renewable energy increases emissions, whereas renewable energy lessens them. The outcomes of the Granger causality confirm (i) a bidirectional relationship between emissions and per capita GDP as well as sectoral GDP, between CO 2 emissions and renewable energy, and between per capita GDP and renewable and non-renewable energy however; (ii) a unidirectional causal impact running from non-renewable energy to CO 2 emissions is found in the short term. The study calls for effective policies to focus on curbing emissions in secondary and tertiary economic sectors by growing the part of renewable energy in the total energy mix., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The panel of G-7 economies is considered one of the most prosperous economies, endowed with abundant natural and renewable energy resources. Due to their richness in these resources, most economic development and activities, including environmental and economic aspects, depend on and are determined by energy consumption and natural resource rents. However, the increasing dependence of G-7 economies on energy consumption and natural resources raises questions about their long-term growth and ecological policies towards achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs). Therefore, the main objective of this study is to examine the influence of natural resources, renewable energy, economic policy uncertainty, human capital, and globalization on the ecological footprint in the panel of G-7 economies from 1990 to 2020. After confirming the cross-sectional dependence issue, this study applied second-generation panel data approaches to estimate robust and reliable outcomes. The estimated evidence from this study discovered that natural resources, globalization processes, and economic policy uncertainty significantly increase the level of ecological footprint in the region. In contrast, renewable energy and human capital provide feasible solutions for ecological improvement in the study area. Likewise, the interactive role of renewable energy with economic policy uncertainty significantly protects the environmental quality in the study area. Based on the estimated findings, this study recommends various achievable policy options for policymakers and the governments of these economies to ensure environmental sustainability., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The focus of sustainable development goals (SDGs) is to promote the use of renewable energy so that countries can achieve better environmental quality. However, the progression is plodding, and still, 80% of energy comes mainly from conventional sources in developing countries. The implementation of procedures depends on the political attitudes, political stability, and quality of institutions. India has a diverse political structure ranging from central government to state government to local governments. In the late '80 s, India witnessed a stiff rise in regional and national political parties, which leads more political competition. This paper tries to explain the possible relationship between political competition and CO 2 emission in India. With the application of the time series non-linear ARDL (NARDL) model, this study tries to find the asymmetric relationship between political competition and CO 2 emission. In our empirical model, we also include other important elements of environmental quality like innovation and fossil fuel consumption. Empirical results show that political competition is asymmetrically related to CO 2 emissions in the long run. Fossil fuel consumption and innovation also have a significant relationship with emissions. Based on the results, a few policy recommendations have been discussed., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The relationship between economic growth and environmental pollution continues to attract significant research interest for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers all over the globe. Theoretically, the environmental benefit of economic growth should be greater than its negative externality with higher level of development. However, from the African perspective, countries with higher economic performances often face several environmental challenges, which raises the doubt whether economic growth helps or constrains environmental quality improvement. Under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, this study re-examined the effect of economic growth on CO2 emissions conditional on the dynamics of urbanization, renewable energy, and good governance across 47 African countries using panel data from 1996 to 2019. We employ panel cointegration tests to establish whether there is a long-run equilibrium relationship among our variables. We also apply pooled mean group ARDL (PMG-ARDL) techniques and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test to determine the long- and short-run effects of economic growth, urbanization, renewable energy consumption, and good governance on CO2 emissions. The results from the PMG estimator validate the EKC hypothesis since a 1% surge in GDP per capita increases emissions by 0.61% in the long run, while a 1% increase in its square decreases emissions by 0.03%. In the short-run, economic growth does not exercise any significant effect on emissions. Furthermore, results indicate a significantly negative and positive long-run effect of renewable energy and governance, respectively. Finally, our causality test shows bidirectional relationship between CO2 emissions and all the explanatory variables. Henceforth, we provided policy implications based on the study's results., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Population in South Asia is increasing ever than a faster rate, subsequently; food security, climate change, and capital intensive agro farming techniques are the prevailing challenges in this region. This is a tri-country penal analysis, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, and the study covers the data throughout (1973-2020). This study has used modern farm input data besides demographic variables in the study. In this study, we use panel data set, ARDL (PMG) approach, autoregressive distributed lag model pooled mean group, which is an extensively dynamic modeling technique for heterogeneous data. The results of the study explore that transition in the demographic pattern in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh is the real cause of low crop productivity and land intensification. Technology innovation is the only ray of hope to fulfill the food demand of the future ahead and climate agriculture practices can hamper the further deterioration of the small farmlands., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The surge in fossil fuel consumption, culminating in global warming and climate change, compels nations to implement protective measures. Consequently, the concepts of "sustainable growth" and the "green economy" have gained prominence in response to heightened environmental consciousness. In light of these imperatives, nations have embarked on the formulation of sustainable and environmentally conscious policies, with the dual objective of safeguarding the environment and fostering economic growth. These factors have collectively contributed to the growing significance of energy policies within European nations, spurring a burgeoning momentum in research areas pertaining to energy efficiency and energy productivity. While extant literature has demonstrated the positive environmental impact of energy productivity, there exists a paucity of research pertaining to its economic implications. Energy productivity, defined as achieving equivalent or greater output with reduced energy consumption, bears the potential to influence economic output, thereby exerting cascading effects on various facets of the economy, including growth and exports. The principal aim of this study is to highlight that the augmentation of energy productivity can yield not only environmental advantages but also economic benefits. To achieve this objective, we conduct econometric analyses on panel data spanning the years 2000 to 2020 across the 27 member states of the European Union. Specifically, we explore the effects of energy productivity on diverse economic parameters, encompassing economic growth, high technology exports, medium and high technology exports, total exports, and trade volume. Employing the Driscoll-Kraay standard errors estimator, our findings evince that energy productivity exerts statistically significant and positive influences on economic growth, medium and high technology exports, total exports, and trade volume., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Growth target management drives China's economic expansion, leading to potential carbon emission externalities. This study examines the impact of economic growth target setting on carbon emission performance in 257 Chinese localities from 2004 to 2020. Using cluster standard error regression, 2SLS instrumental variable regression, and the spatial Durbin model, the results show that moderate growth targets improve urban carbon emission performance. Conversely, aggressive targets do not enhance regional carbon emission performance. Moderate growth targets foster innovation in green technology, while aggressive ones encourage investment in fixed assets and new city growth, impeding performance. Cities in the eastern and western regions, with larger populations and less reliance on natural resources, benefit more from effective economic development targets. The establishment of local targets negatively affects neighboring regions' carbon emissions performance, particularly at a spatial scale of 100 to 200 km. This paper contributes to understanding the environmental consequences of growth target setting and offers insights for balancing economic growth with carbon emission governance in emerging market countries., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Financial stability is essential for economic growth because it fosters confidence and trust and promotes investment in green development. However, it is a dilemma for the world economies to create an equilibrium between financial stability and environmental sustainability. In the extent of these challenges, the present study aims at grabbing the link of financial inclusion to attain financial stability. Further, the present study investigates the association of institutional quality, renewable energy, green growth, environmental sustainability, and financial inclusion with financial stability. Two basic econometric models are applied that focused on the basic and interaction term outcomes. In addition, principal component analysis (PCA) is analyzed to design an index for five proxies of financial inclusion. Additionally, the research inspected the interaction term of institutional quality and financial inclusion (FIN*INSQ) and determined the multiplied impact on financial stability in a separate model. This research employed the linear autoregressive distributed lag approach from 1990 to 2020 for long- and short-term dynamics. Theoretically, the research supports the sustainable finance and financial development theory. Hence, results showed that financial inclusion and institutional quality are positively associated with financial stability, while green growth, environmental sustainability, and renewable energy mechanisms are achieved through financial stability. Following our findings, the government should establish consistency between financial development and economic policies to maintain financial instability and ensure financial soundness. Furthermore, countries require viable financial institutions prioritizing green growth and institutional quality to achieve financial stability and long-term development., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Several emerging economies, including economies in belt and road initiative (BRI), are experiencing difficulty attaining sustainable development goals. The efficient utilization of biomass energy sources plays an essential role in attaining sustainable development goals, especially among developing economies. This study empirically investigates the ecological footprints, biomass energy demand, and per capita income association for 30 BRI economies from 1995 to 2021. The study incorporates cointegration and panel quantile regression (PQR) to identify the relationship among discussed variables. Empirical outcomes indicate a negative significant biomass energy demand and ecological footprints relationship, especially among the economies with high traits of ecological footprints. Moreover, the empirical findings also confirm the negative significant per capita income and ecological footprints relationship, while the square of per capita income approves a significant positive association with ecological footprints. These estimates confirm the EKC hypothesis among per capita income and ecological footprints. The findings of the current study help to determine the optimum level of modern biomass energy consumption, which helps to attain economic growth without compromising ecological sustainability., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The objective of this study is to uncover the nature and strength of the effect that innovations have on CO 2 emissions. The main motivation of this research is to offer reliable and credible findings by eliminating some methodical and conceptual shortcomings of the existing papers. The scope of the analysis is examining the innovations-CO 2 emissions relationship in a sample of 43 countries in the period from 1991 to 2018. The research is based on the application of hidden panel cointegration theory and the concept of a partially asymmetric cointegration equation. The main findings of the study demonstrate that when innovations grow by 1%, the pattern of their change leads to an increase in CO 2 emissions by an average of 0.006%. At the same time, when innovations decline by 1%, their change leads to a reduction in CO 2 emissions by an average of 0.001%. Strictly speaking, in the phase of innovations growth, they have environmentally hostile average influence, while in the phase of innovations reduction, their impact is on average environmentally friendly. The average effect of innovations is very asymmetric, because negative environmental impact is about six times stronger than the positive one. Analysis by countries demonstrates that innovations influence varies significantly from country to country. The impact is environmentally friendly in only 32.6% of countries, regardless of whether innovations increase or decrease. In the remaining cases, the influence on the environment is hostile either when innovations grow, when they decline, or in both situations. The main conclusion of this study is that nature of the impact of innovations on CO 2 emissions is quite unfavorable, which points to the need for much greater support for green innovations., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In the framework of an environmental Kuznets curve, the linkage between shadow economy and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions was evaluated for 145 countries from 1991 to 2017. In assessing the effect of the shadow economy on CO 2 emissions, we used panel quantile regression, panel fixed effects, and panel smooth transition regression as estimation methods. In addition, to deal with parameter heterogeneity, we resorted to the procedure of Lin and Ng (2012). We found two country groups that share homogeneous parameters. No environmental Kuznets curve was found for the set of all countries. Nevertheless, one was found for each of the homogeneous parameter country groups. This result supports different turning points for different groups of countries. Shadow economy contributed to reducing CO 2 emissions in group 1 and aggravated it in group 2. Manufacturing was revealed to be statistically significant for the countries of group 1. Fossil fuel rents increased the CO 2 emissions, mainly in group 2. Urbanization contributed to the hike of CO 2 emissions in both country groups but much more intensely for group 1. Evidence of a tendency for decreasing CO2 emissions was also found, reflecting the efficiency gains over time., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

The study analyzes the impact of renewable energy investments (RENIV) on the environment in China. In doing so, the study uses sectoral carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions as the environment indicator, considers RENIV as the explanatory variable, includes monthly data from 2004/1 to 2020/6, runs quantile on quantile regression approach as the fundamental model, and further performs quantile regression for the controlling. The study reveals that RENIV curb CO 2 emissions in all sectors at higher levels of sectoral CO 2 emissions. Also, RENIV have a varying impact based on quantiles and sectors. Moreover, the results are robust based on the alternative approach. Thus, RENIV have a significantly decreasing impact on sectoral CO 2 emissions in China. Accordingly, China policymakers should continue to focus on providing a decrease in energy and industrial sector CO 2 emissions as the highest emitting sectors., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper aims to analyze the link between environmental degradation and institutional quality and the price of oil moderated by economic complexity and the underground economy. We use quantile regressions with annual panel data for 15 countries in the Middle East and North Africa during 1995-2021. The findings indicate that institutional quality, economic complexity, and output positively and heterogeneously impact environmental degradation. However, the square of production has a negative impact, confirming an inverted U relationship between production and environmental degradation. Likewise, we find that the price of oil and the underground economy have a negative and heterogeneous impact on environmental degradation. Based on our results, a potential recommendation for policymakers is that the institutional framework of Middle Eastern and North African countries should be accompanied by a more significant concern for the environment instead of prioritizing extractive growth that is detrimental to the environment's environmental sustainability. Likewise, economic diversification will mitigate environmental degradation and improve formal employment. Our findings are relevant to policymakers and researchers interested in promoting ecological sustainability., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper investigates the impact of geopolitical risks on renewable energy generation in MENAT oil-importing countries, namely, Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey over the period 1990-2020 using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The main findings emphasize that geopolitical risks play a crucial role in inducing renewable energy development in MENAT oil-importing countries in the short and long run. Financial development appears to positively and significantly affect renewable energy generation in the three countries. Furthermore, the speeds of adjustment towards the long-run equilibrium are 36.78%, 66.03%, and 17.81% annually in Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey, respectively. In today's volatile and turbulent world, dramatically rising geopolitical risks make the transition to renewable energy an inevitable reality. Consequently, it is incumbent upon policymakers and relevant authorities in MENAT oil-importing countries to preemptively redirect their efforts and strategies to conform to the demands of the inevitable transition to renewable energy sources and boost energy self-reliance., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study investigates a modified version of the Okun's Law that incorporates energy consumption and temperature for five Central Asian countries, while it employs the ARDL methodology, spanning the period 1995-2018. While the original Okun's Law is not supported, the analysis does find support for the modified Law, suggesting the importance of regional specific factors. The results document the presence of a negative association between unemployment and real GNP both in the short and in the long run. The impact of energy consumption on unemployment is positive in the long run, while the temperature impacts unemployment both in the short and in the long run., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The industrial revolution has dramatically altered the environment and ecosystem. So many scholars have empirically attempted to reveal the most influential anthropogenic factors on environmental degradation. For this purpose, this study examines the leading determinants of CO 2 emissions in the context of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) for 14 developed countries within the framework of the extended stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT) environmental model from 1997-2018. For empirical modeling, CO 2 emission is treated as the dependent variable, which is a strong proxy for environmental degradation. In addition to the GDP per capita, population density, and energy intensity (a proxy for technology), the basic model is extended to include variables such as EPU, renewable energy, trade openness, globalization, and information and communications technology (ICT) index. While the estimation results by the dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) estimator, which are also supported by robustness analysis, suggest that GDP per capita and energy intensity are the main contributors to emission levels, population density has no significant impact on CO 2 . Furthermore, while renewable energy (in model 2), trade openness (in model 4), and globalization (in model 6) have negative impacts on CO 2 emission, technology (in models 5 and 6) and EPU (in model 6) make marginal contributions to CO 2 ., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

While the acceleration of globalization in newly developing (emerging) economies contributes positively to economic developments on the one hand, it is a research topic that can have an impact on environmental pollution on the other hand. Therefore, this study analyzes the impact of globalization on environmental pollution for 14 emerging economies in the 1991-2018 period by including economic growth, financial development, renewable energy consumption, and urbanization in the ecological footprint model. In addition to the AMG forecaster, Driscoll-Kraay, PCSE, and FGLS estimation techniques are used for long-term forecasting. Causal linkages among variables are analyzed by the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel bootstrap causality test. The findings show that the series are cointegrated, that is, a long-term relationship between the variables. In the long term, globalization and renewable energy consumption reduce environmental pollution, while economic growth and financial development play a role in encouraging environmental pollution. Causality analysis enumerates a causality from economic growth and financial development to environmental pollution, as well as a two-way causality between globalization and environmental pollution and renewable energy consumption and environmental pollution. Empirical findings can offer important implications for policies that will reduce environmental pollution in these countries., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In the light of China's carbon-neutral goal, this study examines how food production, forest cover, trade openness, and rural population contribute to the quest of addressing China's agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. Time series data ranging from 1971 to 2018 was used for analysis in this study. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique was employed to evaluate potential cointegration as well as to ascertain the long and short-run effects of food production, forest cover, income, trade openness, and rural population on agricultural nitrous oxide emission. The Toda-Yamomoto causality analysis was also used to identify the causal relations between covariates (food production, forest cover, income, trade openness, and rural population) and the outcome variable (agricultural nitrous oxide emission). The long-run evidence is that rural population in itself tends to increase agricultural nitrous oxide emissions likewise food production. There is also validation of the existence of environmental Kuznets curve for agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. Moreover, income interacts with rural population to reduce agricultural nitrous oxide emissions in the long-run. Causality analysis indicated rural population affects the level of forest cover; forest cover is found to cause agricultural nitrous oxide emissions but the converse is not established, and income as well as the interaction between income and rural population determines agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. The short-run dynamics results establish an oscillatory equilibrium convergence for agricultural nitrous oxide emissions in event of structural disturbances. From the findings, the EKC hypothesis is relevant by offering avenue to reduce emission. Thus, income growth remains helpful in addressing nitrous oxide emission from the agricultural sector. However, research is needed to unravel why nitrous oxide tends to increase in many forest areas. Since food production cannot be halted, policy makers need to enhance the uptake of efficient food production technologies including developing and using more renewable energy for food production. It is important for authorities to attend to rural development in order to mitigate agricultural nitrous oxide emissions in China., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

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., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

China Overseas Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (COCZs) which as a platform for China's foreign investment and trade has a potential impact on CO 2 emissions, while strengthening bilateral investment and trade between China and the host countries. Since most of the COCZs are located in countries along the "Belt and Road," the purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of COCZs on CO 2 emissions of the countries along the "Belt and Road" and the mechanism of this impact. We constructed a panel data of 63 countries along the "Belt and Road" from 2000 to 2020, and conducted an empirical study using the difference-in-difference (DID) model. Our research result show that COCZs can significantly increase the CO 2 emissions of the countries along the "Belt and Road." Then, we conduct a series of robustness tests and endogeneity test on the estimation results of the baseline model, and the results of the tests all support the conclusion reached by the baseline model. Our heterogeneity analysis reveals that the effect of COCZs on CO 2 emissions is more significant in Asian countries with lower national income or industrialization and higher country risk. Finally, we analyzed industrial value added and energy depletion as possible impact mechanisms, the results of mechanism model shows that COCZs can increase the industrial value added and then significantly increase CO 2 emissions, but energy depletion was not an efficient mechanism. Our paper provides a new insight into the impact of bilateral economic and trade cooperation zones on CO 2 emissions in host countries., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The combination of rising debt levels, poor electricity access, and environmental deterioration could threaten the attainment of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Hence, this inquiry examined the implications of public borrowing and access to electricity on environmental sustainability (proxied by ecological footprint (ECOL) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), largely overlooked in the literature. In addition to pre-estimation, diagnostic, and robustness checks utilized in the study, the instrumental variable generalized method of moment (IV-GMM) approach is employed to examine annual data from 39 SSA economies between 2005 and 2018. The key findings indicate that public debt negatively influences environmental sustainability in the region at a certain level of threshold, while access to electricity has the potential to trigger environmental sustainability but remain below the expected threshold to mitigate environmental damage in SSA. The study provides recommendations for SSA policymakers to significantly reduce pollution and protect the environment which is vital for sustainable development., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Extensive theoretical and empirical evidence supports the crucial role of savings in driving a nation's economic growth and development. However, previous studies have not considered their potential environmental implications. This study aims to explore the influence of savings and remittances on the Developing-8 countries (D-8) from 1989 to 2019, using the panel autoregressive distributed (ARDL) model. The findings reveal that national savings and remittances, in the long run, help mitigate environmental degradation in the D-8 countries but energy use and population growth stimulate carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. In contrast, economic growth does not significantly affect these countries' environmental quality in the long run. However, none of the explanatory variables have any significant relationship with CO 2 emissions in the short run. Therefore, policymakers in the D-8 countries are strongly encouraged to prioritize the enhancement of national savings across the three economic agents to maximize the positive effects of savings on environmental quality. Government savings can be increased by reducing deficits and borrowings, while corporate savings can be encouraged by implementing investment tax credits and promoting research and development. Additionally, governments can embark on public enlightenment campaigns on financial education and provide incentives to encourage household savings., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study investigates the effects of productivity, energy consumption, foreign direct investments, and urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 ) in Finland during 2000-2020 using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. The results show that (i) there is evidence of cointegration among variables; (ii) energy consumption has a positive effect on CO 2 emissions in the long run; (iii) labor productivity and urbanization have a negative effect on CO 2 emissions in the long run; (iv) foreign direct investments are not a significant explainer of CO 2 emissions. The results are discussed with some policy implications and suggested future research., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

This study examines the impact of government spending, income, and tourism consumption on CO 2 emissions in the 50 US states through a novel theoretical model derived from the Armey Curve model and the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. The findings of this research are essential for policymakers to develop effective strategies for mitigating environmental pollution. Utilizing panel cointegration analysis, the study provides valuable insights into whether continued increases in government spending contribute to higher pollution levels. By identifying the threshold point of spending as a percentage of GDP, policymakers can make informed decisions to avoid the trade-off between increased spending and environmental degradation. For instance, the analysis reveals that Hawaii's tipping point is 16.40%. The empirical results underscore the importance of adopting sustainable policies that foster economic growth while minimizing environmental harm. These findings will aid policymakers in formulating targeted and efficient approaches to tackle climate change and promote long-term environmental sustainability in the United States. Moreover, the impact of tourism development on CO 2 emissions varies across states, with some US states experiencing a decrease while others see an increase., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The pilot free trade zone (PFTZ) policy is an important strategic initiative to lead green and high-quality economic development. Based on panel data from 2012 to 2019 of 287 Chinese cities, this study systematically investigates the effect of the PFTZ policy on carbon emissions by building the staggered difference-in-difference (DID) model. The results showed that the PFTZ policy significantly reduced carbon emissions and that this reduction effect increased over time. These findings hold true after robustness tests. Additionally, the heterogeneity analysis showed that the carbon emission reduction effect was more significant in coastal areas. In terms of impact mechanisms, the main driving force of carbon emission reduction from the PFTZ policy is technological progress. Furthermore, the PFTZ policy has a spatial spillover effect, which can drive neighboring cities to reduce their carbon emissions. This study provides useful policy insights for building a green low-carbon trade system and helps achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Although energy is a necessary component of production and hence a contaminant, the environmental effect varies depending on the type of energy used. Renewable sources of energy can provide ecological advantages, particularly when contrasted with fossil fuels, which emit high levels of CO2 emissions. Thus, the research explores the impact of eco-innovation (ECO), green energy (REC), and globalization (GLOB) on the ecological footprint (ECF) in the BRICS nations using the panel nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (PNARDL) technique between 1990 and 2018. The empirical results indicate that there is cointegration in the model. The results from the PNARDL show that a positive shift in renewable energy, eco-innovation, and globalization decreases the ecological footprint, while positive (negative) shifts in non-renewable energy and economic growth intensify the ecological footprint. The paper suggests several policy recommendations based on these results., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Sustainable consumption is crucial in reducing the growing pressure of environmental crises. This study proposes the Technique of Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach to evaluate sustainable consumption toward green growth. The proposed approach assesses criteria weights in Interval Valued Neutrosophic Sets (IVNSs) using the Method of Maximizing Deviation. The proposed method evaluates sustainable consumption for ten selected developed and developing countries, including Canada, France, Japan, China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The evaluation process encompasses four main criteria with eight sub-criteria, namely environment (population density, CO 2 ), energy (total natural resource rents, renewable electricity), economics (value added of agriculture, forestry, and fishing, GDP per capita), and health (fertility rate, mortality rate). The countries are ranked based on the relative closeness coefficient. The results reveal that two economic sub-criteria are pivotal in the sustainable consumption rankings. Canada emerges as the country with the highest degree of green growth, attributed to its extensive land area and potential for renewable energy. Based on the findings, this study proposes some policy implications for Vietnam, including balancing fertility and mortality rates and regulating economic growth and resource exploitation., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Population aging, economic globalization, and economic growth simultaneously cause changes in environmental quality, but so far no studies have integrated these key factors into the same environmental policy framework. Thus, this study uses the more robust Westerlund cointegration test and the augmented mean group (AMG) estimator (robust to cross-sectional dependence (CD), heterogeneity, and endogeneity) to estimate the long-term relationship between population aging, economic globalization, economic growth, and per capita carbon emissions in East Asian countries during the period 1975-2018. The analysis results reflect that population aging significantly reduces the long-term per capita carbon emissions of specific East Asian countries. However, energy generation and economic globalization make significant contributions to long-run per capita carbon emissions. Moreover, the impact of economic growth on long-term per capita carbon emissions is significantly positive, while the impact of square of economic growth on long-run per capita carbon emissions is significantly negative, thus validating the inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for specific East Asian countries. The results of the causality test indicated a two-way causality between energy generation and per capita carbon dioxide emission, supporting the feedback hypothesis. There is also a two-way causal relationship between aging population and per capita carbon dioxide emission. Policy recommendations are discussed in response to the empirical findings of this study., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

One of the greatest challenges facing humanity in the current millennium is the need to mitigate climate change, and one of the most viable options to overcome this challenge is to invest in renewable energy. The study dynamically examines the links between renewable energy consumption, non-renewable energy consumption, climate change, and economic growth in five emerging Asian countries during the period 1975-2020. Variables selected in the model have long-term cointegration, as explored by the Pedroni cointegration test and the Westerlund cointegration test. The long-term estimated parameters of the augmented mean group (AMG) method show that renewable energy consumption significantly reduces climate change, while non-renewable energy consumption significantly promotes climate change. The results also show that GDP, investment in transport infrastructure, and urbanization can significantly contribute to climate change in selected emerging Asian countries. Moreover, the results validate the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis for emerging Asian economies. Country-specific analysis results using AMG estimates shows that renewable energy consumption reduces climate change in selected emerging Asian countries. Non-renewable energy consumption and investment in transport infrastructure have had significant progressive impacts on climate change in all countries. Urbanization contributes significantly to climate change, with the exception of Japan, which does not have any significant impact on climate change. GDP contributes significantly to climate change in all countries; however, GDP2 has significant adverse effects on climate change in India, China, Japan, and Korea, validating the inverted U-shaped EKC assumption for all countries except Bangladesh. Moreover, the Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality test confirmed a pairwise causal relationship between non-renewable energy consumption and GDP, supporting the feedback hypothesis. The results suggest that the best option for climate change mitigation in selected emerging Asian countries is to transition from non-renewable to renewable energy sources., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The present paper investigates the influence of renewable energy consumption (REC), economic growth (GDP), financial development index (FDI), z-score (ZS) and control of corruption (CC) on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, for eighteen different APEC economies over the period 2000-2019 using the Pooled Mean Group-Autoregressive Distributed Lags (PMG-ARDL) approach and Granger causality tests. The outcomes of the empirical study confirm that the variables are cointegration using Pedroni tests. The long-run estimates revealed that economic growth and renewable energy contribute to the huge of carbon emissions, while financial development, ZS and CC lead to decrease carbon emissions. Granger causality shows that, in the long-run, there is bidirectional causality between CO2 emissions, economic growth, and financial development. In the short-run and for basic variables, Granger shows a unidirectional causality from CO2 emissions and economic growth to REC and; unidirectional causality from financial development, ZC and CC to CO2 emissions. A comprehensive approach is needed in APEC countries to effectively reduce CO2 emissions and promote sustainable development, including encouraging green financial products, reinforcing financial regulations, transitioning to a low-carbon economy, enhancing renewable energy usage, and improving governance and institutional quality, while considering the distinctive characteristics of each country., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

A key strategy for social development and sustainable urban expansion is building sustainable and affordable transport systems. In this study, we aim to test the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis and reveal the impact of infrastructure investment in transportation systems in China, Turkey, India, and Japan over the period 1995-2020 on environmental degradation. According to dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) method analysis, per capita GDP and per capita GDP 3 have a significant positive impact on per capita CO 2 emission, while per capita GDP 2 has a significant adverse impact on per capita CO 2 emission. These results confirm the validity of the N-shaped EKC assumption, while inconsistent with the results of the FMOLS technique, showing that per capita GDP is significantly positive, while per capita GDP 2 and per capita GDP 3 have a significant negative impact on per capita carbon emissions. Moreover, as clarified by the fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and DOLS methods, road infrastructure investment (RO), aviation infrastructure investment, trade openness, and foreign direct investment (FDI) have significant positive effects, while railway infrastructure investment (RA) has a significant negative effect on per capita carbon emission. Country-level estimates of per capita carbon emission-based DOLS strategies in the model show that only China and Japan have N-shaped EKC hypothesis. Road infrastructure investment, aviation infrastructure investment, and trade openness have significant positive effects, while railway infrastructure investment has a significant negative effect on per capita CO 2 emission in selected central and east Asian countries. The latest electrified rail systems are well thought out and less polluting, so the contribution of rail infrastructure investment to the transport mix can support sustainable and safe transport systems at city center and intercity levels and reduce environmental pollution in central and east Asian countries. Moreover, the implementation of the basic environmental settings of trade agreements should be strengthened to condense the growing impact of free trade on environmental pollution., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The present research reexamines the validity of the EKC hypothesis in the top three polluted nations in Africa, Algeria, Egypt, and South Africa, over the period 1970-2020. The central idea of the research is to reexamine the EKC hypothesis by incorporating the ARMEY curve linking government spending and GDP into the Kuznets curve, as suggested by Işık et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29(11):16472-16483, (2022) and Ongan et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29(31):46587-46599, (2022). To this end, the ARDL equation with a Fourier function is implemented to estimate the long-run drivers of environmental deterioration. The Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology (STIRPAT) model results revealed that the composite model is only valid in Algeria, and the optimal government spending that maximizes CO 2 emissions is 16.88% of gross domestic product. On the contrary, the results showed that the composite model is not valid for South Africa and Egypt due to the failure of the desired shapes for the three curves. The outcomes also confirm the role of energy consumption and population as key drivers of environmental degradation in the three countries., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study assesses the role of government spending on environmental sustainability based on a framework that combines the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis with the Armey curve hypothesis. Specifically, the inverted U-shaped relationships between carbon (CO 2 ) emissions and economic growth (EKC hypothesis) and between government spending and economic growth (Armey curve hypothesis) are analyzed using a composite EKC model tested for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity, panel unit root, panel co-integration, and the augmented mean group estimation. In so doing, this study pursues a potential transmission mechanism leading from government spending to CO 2 emissions through the growth channel and presents a novel way to develop a better understanding of how economic growth policy and energy policy can be synchronized. Empirical results show that economic growth acts as a transmitter between government spending and CO 2 emissions in the USA, UK, and Canada. However, the composite EKC hypotehesis is confirmed only for the USA and Canada, where the optimal level of government spending that maximizes CO 2 emissions is 29.87% and 29.22% of GDP, respectively. In contrast, the optimal level of government spending equivalent to 28.30% of GDP minimizes CO 2 emissions in the UK. The key policy implication is that governments can achieve sustainable economic growth by setting standards for their spending levels., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In recent years, environmental issues have become controversial, and policymakers are discovering new predictors of carbon emissions. Some economists/researchers have advocated for fiscal decentralization to improve the quality of the environment by offering more financial authority to provincial/local and sub-national governments. Therefore, this work aims to inspect the effect of fiscal decentralization on economic growth and environmental quality in India by taking data from 1996 to 2021. This work applies both ARDL and NARDL econometric models for empirical examination. The findings of this study suggest that expenditure decentralization has asymmetric long-term and short-term consequences on economic growth, and carbon emission in India. The result of the asymmetric ARDL model also indicates that positive and negative shock in expenditure decentralization contrarily affects economic growth and carbon emission. Moreover, the positive and negative shock in revenue decentralization helps in reducing carbon emissions both in the long run and short run in India. These outcomes are useful for policy analysis from the Indian economic policy perspective. The study also laid out potential outcomes that may benefit India's local governments and central government in resolving the issues of economic growth and environmental degradation., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)