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The environment has become a growing concern for many countries, as pollution and other environmental degradation can harm human health, economic growth, and overall well-being. This paper probes into the asymmetrical implications of economic complexity and freedom on ecological quality in four South Asian countries from 1995 to 2019. Using Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lag methodology approach, our findings indicate that carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions are intensified by economic freedom both in the long and short term, while negative and positive shocks to economic complexity increase CO 2 emissions in the long term. However, a negative economic complexity shock increases CO 2 emissions, whereas a positive shock has the opposite effect in the short run. Moreover, our results confirm the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in the long run. Furthermore, we find that renewable energy usage and the interaction of FDI and renewable energy usage can help reduce environmental damage in both the short and long run. The findings suggest that countries should focus on attracting foreign direct investment that promotes the use of renewable energy. Additionally, policies aimed at encouraging renewable energy use should be implemented. It is important to note that as economic freedom and complexity increase, there is a corresponding increase in CO 2 emissions. Therefore, South Asian policy makers are advised to prioritize the reduction in fossil fuels, the promotion of energy-saving technologies and efficient production, and trade that encourages the transition of renewable energy sources to reduce CO 2 emissions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Apart from business considerations stemming from the marketplace, businesses, individuals, and the economy at large, political decisions also play a role on environmental quality. Governments make a series of policies that impact private businesses, sectors, the environment, and the economy at large. In this paper, we test the asymmetric role of political risk on CO 2 emissions, while controlling for renewable energy, non-renewable energy, and real income: policy toward environmental sustainability objectives in the context of Turkey. To realize the motive of this study, we capture the asymmetric effect of the regressors by adopting the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag method (NARDL). This research adds to the environmental literature in terms of methodological and empirical. Methodologically, the study shows that a nonlinear relationship exists among the variables, and it has a significant impact on environmental sustainability targets. The outcome of the NARDL indicates that the increasing political risk, non-renewable energy, and economic growth follow a trajectory trend on carbon emissions, which is unsustainable in Turkey, but renewable energy is sustainable. Moreover, decreasing real income and non-renewable energy decreases carbon emissions. This research also deployed the frequency domain test to capture the causal association of the concerned variables and the outcome indicates political risk, renewable energy, non-renewable energy use, and real income are predictors of CO 2 in Turkey. From this result, policies geared toward promoting a sustainable environment were formulated., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In this study, energy losses, energy prices, and the relationship between green energy and environmental quality are investigated for 15 energy-importing emerging economies. In addition, the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve is tested in this study. Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach based on panel dataset, related intermediate estimators including PMG, MG, and DFE were used as a method. In addition, FMOLS and DOLS estimators were used for robustness testing in the study. According to empirical findings, the environmental Kuznets curve is valid in energy-importing emerging economies. In addition, green energy use and energy prices have a reducing effect on CO 2 emissions. However, energy losses increase CO 2 emissions. While the long-term results of the variables were similar, the short-term results were mixed. This situation is attributed to different economic growths in energy-importing developing economies, the share of energy resources in total energy resources, and energy-efficient technologies in the energy field. The fact that these variables have never been investigated for this economy group makes the study different., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

South Korea has invested extensively in developing revolutionary marine and ocean technologies to accomplish renewable energy goals. Despite that, the available literature offers no insight into the environmental benefits of innovation in marine energy generation, distribution, or transmission-related technologies (IMET). This study examines the nexus between carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 e) and IMET in South Korea (1990Q1-2018Q4). Control variables include international collaboration in green technology development (ICGD), gross domestic product (per capita) (GDPPC), expansionary commercial policy (ECP), and renewable energy use (REC). First, the findings validated the long-run relationship among ICGD, GDPPC, ECP, REC, IMET, and CO 2 e. Second, the findings asserted that increasing IMET assisted in the generation of low-carbon renewable energy, thereby contributing to the improvement of environmental quality. Third, the estimates revealed that an increase in GDPPC and ECP was positively associated with an upsurge in CO 2 e. Fourth, the data depicted that ICGD facilitated co-green technologies development, which de-escalated CO 2 e. Fifth, REC was negatively associated with a decrease in CO 2 e. Based on current estimates, this article recommended that governments implement policies that encourage companies and academia to participate in IMET to promote the green economy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

By likening biocapacity and ecological footprint, the load capacity factor follows a specified ecological threshold, permitting for an in-depth analysis of ecological damage. It can be seen that as the load capacity factor is reduced, the ecological damage intensifies. Until now, scholars have used carbon dioxide, ecological footprint, nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and other indices to objectively examine ecological problems. The utilization of these metrics can cause the supply side of ecological concerns to be overlooked. To make up for this weakness, this paper evaluates the impact of structural change and trade globalization on the load capacity factor. The research also considers other drivers of load capacity factors such as economic growth and energy. We utilized the nonparametric such as nonparametric causality and quantile-on-quantile (QQ) regression approaches to scrutinize these interconnections for South Korea between 1970 and 2018. The findings from the QQ approach disclosed that in the majority of the quantiles, the influence of economic growth, structural change, energies (renewable and nonrenewable), and trade globalization mitigate the load capacity factor. Moreover, the nonparametric causality test divulged that in variance and mean, all the independent variables can predict the load capacity factor. Policy proposals for South Korea's sustainable development are offered based on the findings., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Over the last few decades, environmental deterioration has accelerated significantly. Environmental degradation has been a subject of research across the world because of its impact on billions of people. However, there has been no international agreement on lowering the utilization of energy and CO 2 emissions (CO 2 ), while demand for fossil fuels grows in emerging economies. On the other hand, the recent COP26 summit brought all parties together to accelerate action toward reaching the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Although previous research shows that international trade promotes positive socioeconomic outcomes, other experts argue that it contributes to natural resource shortages and ecological deterioration. Thus, the current research considers the effect of international trade, renewable energy use and technological innovation on consumption-based carbon emissions (CCO 2 ), coupled with the role of financial development and economic growth in the BRICS economies between 1990 and 2018. Moreover, this research utilizes the common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG), augmented mean group (AMG) and Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) causality methods to assess these interrelationships. The study findings reveal that renewable energy use, exports and technological innovation mitigate CCO 2 , whereas economic growth and imports trigger CCO 2 in the BRICS economies. The panel causality outcomes also reveal that all the variables except financial development can predict CCO 2 emissions. Based on the study findings, we recommend the adoption of policies, regulations and the development of legislative frameworks that promote technological innovation and the shift toward sustainable energy., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Recent economic and environmental literature suggests that the current state of energy use in South Africa amidst rapid growing population is unsustainable. Researchers in this area mostly focus on the effect of fossil energy use on carbon (CO 2 ) emission, which represents only an aspect of environmental quality. In contrast, the current study evaluates the influence of renewable energy use, human capital, and trade on ecological footprint--a more comprehensive measure of environmental quality. To this end, the study employs multiple structural breaks cointegration tests (Maki cointegration tests), dynamic unrestricted error correction model through Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model, and VECM Granger causality tests. The results of the Maki cointegration tests reveal the existence of a cointegration between the variables in all the models with evidence of multiple structural breaks. Further, the ARDL results divulge that an increase in renewable energy use, human capital, and trade improves environmental quality through a decrease in ecological footprint, while an increase in income stimulates ecological footprint. Moreover, causal relationship is found, running from all the variables to renewable energy and trade flow in the long run, while in the short run, economic growth causes ecological footprint. Trade is found to Granger-cause human capital, while human capital causes renewable energy. Additionally, human capital, renewable energy, and economic growth are predictors of trade. The study therefore recommends South African policymakers to consider the importance of renewable energy, human capital development, and trade as a policy option to reduce ecological footprint and improve environmental quality.