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The energy sector represents one of the key contributors to environmental degradation. In this context, actions taken within the energy sector are paramount in the global effort to combat climate change. This study aims to investigate the impacts of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, energy technology investment, and green technological innovation on environmental sustainability in the context of EKC and LCC hypotheses in the USA from 1980 to 2015. While many studies in the literature focus on the EKC hypothesis, this study offers a comparative analysis of the EKC and LCC hypotheses with relevant variables. For this aim, the study uses the novel Fourier estimation methods. According to the results, the EKC and the LCC hypotheses are valid in the USA. Moreover, non-renewable energy consumption increases the ecological footprint. On the other hand, non-renewable energy consumption decreases the load capacity factor while renewable energy consumption increases it. Finally, energy technology investment and green technological innovation have an insignificant impact on the ecological footprint and the load capacity factor in both models. All results except energy technology investment and green technological innovation are consistent with our expectations. The USA has the potential to realize green growth. Policymakers should support the green technological innovation process and increase green investments., (© 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 objective of this paper is to examine, for a panel of seven countries from the European Union, spanning the period 1986-2015, whether the use of renewable energy impacts their output elasticities of capital and labor and, thereby, influences the factor shares. By applying a set of models from threshold analysis, the analysis detects-for the first time-the presence of thresholds in the use of renewable energy with nontrivial consequences; notably, once the thresholds are crossed, the output elasticity of capital declines, while the output elasticity of labor rises. These changes in the elasticities indicate substantial changes in factor shares triggered by the identified threshold level of renewable energy consumption. This paper also finds changes in output elasticities of factors of production for other threshold variables including energy production from oil and gas or coal. These findings portray a complex and non-linear relationship between energy sources (e.g., renewables and non-renewables) vis-à-vis the economic growth level (e.g., GDP), with far-reaching consequences for factor shares from using renewables vis-à-vis non-renewables. Accordingly, it can be assumed that the changes in factor shares can, in turn, shape the incentives for the adoption of renewables within the selected European nations. Hence, future economic policies should emphasize the augmentation of renewable energy in the national energy system in order to sustain the rate of economic growth., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study investigates the co-movements of gasoline and diesel prices in three European countries (i.e. Germany, France, and Italy) with different fuel tax systems in place. The methodology follows a time-frequency approach, allowing us to analyse the co-movements at different frequencies and moments in time. As a novelty, we study the impact of fuel tax systems and international oil price dynamics on gasoline and diesel price co-movement. Using weekly data spanning the period from January 2005 to June 2021, the wavelet coherence analysis shows co-movements between gasoline and diesel at all frequencies, as well as during specific periods, but stronger in the long run. This evidence is recorded across all three countries, regardless of their tax systems. However, in decoupling the effect of international oil prices, the partial wavelet coherence analysis shows co-movements emerging also in the short run, with them being stronger around the global financial crisis (2008-2009). Although gasoline taxes are generally higher than diesel taxes, the analysis highlights that fuel tax systems do not influence the co-movements of fuel prices. Thus, shedding new light on the co-movement between commodity prices is fundamental, particularly in light of the current international geopolitical scene., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper examines for the first time the relationship between CO2 emissions and the consumption of renewable and non-renewable energy in Uzbekistan, spanning the period 1985-2020. The analysis uses the Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) model to estimate the long-run dynamic multipliers and short-run elasticity coefficients of energy consumption variables. Economic factors, such as GDP, are excluded in the analysis as they may cause multicollinearity problems. The empirical results document that in the short- and long-run, hydropower (renewable) energy consumption negatively impacts CO2 emissions per capita, showing a unidirectional causal effect. As regards with non-renewable energy consumption, natural gas and oil energy consumption have a positive impact on CO2 emissions per capita both in the short and long run. Coal consumption positively impacts CO2 emissions in the short run, while it is negative in the long run. Policy measures to enhance the collection of energy from additional renewable energy sources, in particular hydropower, should be taken into account in order to increase the share of renewable energy, and thus, to compensate non-renewable energy consumption which is the main contributor to CO2 emissions. Moreover, solar and wind energy should be explicitly taken into consideration as an additional renewable energy source, which has the lack of attention by policymakers. Furthermore, policy actions, such as the involvement of the private sector into renewable energy projects and the implementation of effective carbon tax policies, could be further options to reduce CO2 emissions., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

It is well known that unemployment and environmental degradation are two critical issues across the globe. However, there is an extended dearth of literature that explores the nexus between unemployment and environmental degradation. Kashem and Rahman (Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 27(101): 31153-31170, 2020) put forward the Environmental Phillips Curve (EPC) hypothesis, which depicts a negative relationship between unemployment and environmental degradation. This study further explores the validity of the EPC hypothesis in the case of the USA. It also investigates the impact of monetary policy uncertainty (MU), fiscal policy uncertainty (FU), and trade policy uncertainty (TU) on carbon dioxide emissions. To this end, the analysis employs the novel methodology of the dynamic ARDL model. The results document that EPC does not hold in the short run, but it does in the long run. Furthermore, both in the short and long run, MU escalates CO 2 emissions, while FU plunges emissions in both the short and long run. Finally, TU does not alter the level of CO 2 emissions., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

High levels of CO 2 emissions are extensively cited as one of the main global concerns nowadays. Therefore, researchers have been investigating the factors that affect CO 2 emissions. In the prior literature, several social, economic, and political drivers of CO 2 emissions have been investigated; however, there is a dearth of the literature on the impact of geopolitical risks (GPR) on CO 2 emissions. Hence, the objective of this study is to explore the impact of GPR on CO 2 emissions in the case of the BRICS countries while controlling the effects of population, GDP, non-renewable energy, and renewable energy consumption. The study uses the recently developed GPR index, proposed by Caldara and Iacoviello (2018), and the AMG (augmented mean group) estimator method. The findings document that GPR escalates CO 2 emissions. That is, a 1% increase in GPR escalates CO 2 emissions by 13%. Moreover, it also reports that renewable energy consumption impedes CO 2 emissions. In contrast, GDP, population, and non-renewable energy consumption surge CO 2 emissions. The study also proposes a few policy implications based on the findings: (1) policymakers and government officials should try to limit GPR through peace treaties, agreements, and negotiations; (2) share of renewable energy in total energy consumption should be increased in order to plunge CO 2 emissions., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Considering that the rigor of economic activities has widely been linked with the turbulent nature of the increasing global atmospheric and environmental hazards thus hampering environmental sustainability, it then presented a suggestive dilemma realizing that increasing unemployment, i.e., de-economizing human activities posit a desirable environmental quality effect. Given this backdrop, and employing the more recent estimation techniques, the current study probes the validity of the novel environmental Phillips curve (i.e., negative relationship between unemployment and environmental degradation) opined by Kashem and Rahman (Environ Sci Pollut Res 1-18, 2020). In this case, the panel of BRICST (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and Turkey) economies for the selected data set over the experimental period 1992-2016 is analyzed. After using related approaches that are designed to account for probable country-specific factors, i.e., the cross-sectional dependence concern, the findings from the PMG-ARDL model affirmed the validity of the environmental Phillips curve for the BRICST countries. Thus, there is a significant trade-off between unemployment and environmental degradation. Moreover, this study concludes that renewable energy consumption improves the environmental quality, while conventional energy sources remained detrimental factors to environmental quality in the panel of the examined countries. Therefore, the study identified that the share of renewable energy in the energy mix should be escalated to improve environmental quality and maintain or improve the employment level, thus advancing the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the BRICST countries., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This exploratory study extends the literature on the convergence of per capita carbon dioxide emissions in analyzing stochastic and club convergence within a panel framework for developing countries. The results from Pesaran (Journal of Applied Econometrics, 22(2), 265-312, 2007) and Bai and Carrion-i-Silvestre (Review of Economic Studies, 76(2), 471-501, 2009) panel unit root tests with allowance for cross-sectional dependence confirm stochastic convergence for low-income, lower middle-income, and combined country panels. Further analysis using the nonlinear time-varying factor model of Phillips and Sul (Econometrica, 75(6), 1771-1855, 2007; Journal of Applied Econometrics, 24(7), 1153-1185, 2009) to test for convergence reveals the emergence of multiple convergence clubs within each of the three country panels examined. We observe geographic proximity among many of the countries within the respective convergence clubs., (© 2020. Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Over the last few decades, economic policy uncertainty (EPU) has surged across the globe. Furthermore, EPU affects economic activities, which may also generate strong CO 2 emissions. The goal of this study is to explore the impact of EPU (measured by the world uncertainty index) on CO 2 emissions in the case of the top ten carbon emitter countries, spanning the period 1990 to 2015. The findings from the PMG-ARDL modelling approach document that the world uncertainty index (WUI) affects CO 2 emissions in both the short and the long run. In the short run, a 1% increase in WUI mitigates CO 2 emissions by 0.11%, while a 1% rise in WUI escalates CO 2 emissions by 0.12% in the long run. The findings could have some substantial practical effects on economic policies through which policy makers try to shrink any uncertainty by organizing and participating in international summits and treaties. In addition, international organizations could also launch certain programs to shrink uncertainties associated with economic policy. Finally, these countries should introduce innovation, renewable energy, and enforce alternative technologies that are environment friendly. Overall, governments must provide strong tax exemptions on the use of clean energy, while R&D budgets should also expand.

We examine how the implied volatility in the US financial market has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. We decompose the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) Volatility Index (VIX) into two implied volatility conditions (i.e., low and high), and COVID-19 pandemic cases and deaths into two categories (i.e., low and high). Our novel quantile-on-quantile regression approach allows us to better examine the dynamic relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and implied volatility. Our empirical results show that increased death rates tend to increase fear in the US financial market. Specifically. we find that high COVID-19 cases have a significant impact on implied volatility under high uncertainty conditions, but low COVID-19 cases appear to have no impact on implied volatility in the US market. Our findings offer support to the US policy response by the Federal Reserve Board and the government to limit the instability effect of the COVID-19 shock on the financial markets., Competing Interests: We declare that we are the authors of this unpublished work and there is no conflict of interest., (© 2023 The Authors.)

This study examines the convergence of greenhouse gas emissions per capita across the 19 Spanish regions using the Phillips-Sul club convergence approach over the period spanning from 1990 to 2017. The results indicate the presence of four clubs which converge to different equilibria in emissions per capita and three clubs in terms of income per capita, which involves different regions. These findings suggest that mitigation policies should explicitly consider the presence of different clubs of regions with different convergence paths in terms of emissions and income per capita and address the distributional effect of transfers across regions.

This study explores the role of COVID-19 in the connectedness between green and conventional bonds. The findings document spillovers from conventional to green bonds. The results imply that the new green bond market cannot be ignored during a stressful period., (© 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows from developed to developing countries may increase carbon emissions in developing countries as developing countries are seen as pollution havens due to their lenient environmental regulations. On the other hand, FDI flows from the developed world may improve management practices and advanced technologies in developing countries, and an increase in FDI flows reduces carbon emissions. Most of the existing studies examine the relationship between FDI flows and carbon emissions by using aggregate FDI flows; however, this paper contributes to the literature by analyzing the impact of FDI flows on carbon emissions in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) between 1993 and 2012 using bilateral FDI flows from eleven OECD countries. According to our empirical results, from which OECD country FDI flows to BRICS countries matters for carbon emissions in BRICS countries. Our results confirm that FDI flows to BRICS countries from Denmark and the UK increase carbon emissions in BRICS countries, confirming the pollution haven hypothesis. On the other hand, FDI that flows from France, Germany, and Italy reduced carbon emissions in the BRICS countries, confirming the pollution halo effect. FDI flows from Austria, Finland, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland have no significant impact on carbon emissions in BRICS countries. The BRICS countries should promote clean FDI flows by reducing environmental damages, and investing countries should be rated based on their environmental damage in the host countries., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

This paper analyzes the role of COVID-19 pandemic crisis in determining and forecasting conditional volatility returns for a set of eight cryptocurrencies through an asymmetric GARCH modeling approach. The findings report that the COVID-19 pandemic exerts a positive effect on the conditional volatility of those returns, while explicitly considering the pandemic event improves volatility predictions., (© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This paper explores the impact of Covid-19, and that of the MMLF program on US MMFs systemic risk through the CoVaR methodology. Using 149 listed prime MMFs, between January 2019 and April 2020, the results document that while Covid-19 increased their systemic risk, the MMLF facility scheme mitigated it., (© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Nonlinear adjustments of consumption to housing prices, stock prices, income, and interest rates were investigated by employing panel data from 25 countries, spanning the period 2000 to 2016. This is the first study which STAR family models and nonlinear impulse response functions based on the local projections employed alternatively. We present three main pieces of evidence: (1) housing prices, stock prices, interest rates, and income exposures of consumption show time-varying and asymmetric behaviours across all countries, (2) housing wealth effects show stronger persistency and are generally larger than financial wealth effects in most of the countries, and (3) time-varying housing and financial wealth effects are high (low) during expansionary (recessionary) periods across all countries. We suggest to consider both monetary and fiscal policies, as well as the asymmetric and time-varying nature of house prices, stock prices, income, and interest rates on the top of any potential impact of the level of transition in these variables., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestAuthors declare that they have no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2021, corrected publication 2022.)

This paper analyses, for the first time, potential convergence patterns of hotel revenues across provinces in China. Through the club clustering methodology, the analysis uses a unique dataset of all hotels across all Chinese provinces. The findings document that these hotel revenues follow a diverging pattern on a national level, while a converging pattern is identified across certain provinces, thus forming specific clubs. When the analysis is extended to identify potential drivers for such diverging or converging behavior, the new results illustrate the role of productivity trends, management strategies and tax policies as those factors that drive such patterns. The results could be of substantial value, primarily for tourism policymakers to further improve the current framework of the Chinese hotel industry to introduce practices and policies that will allow the industry to catch up with the global market., Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11293-022-09745-6., (© International Atlantic Economic Society 2022.)

Determine the main factors affecting carbon emissions of the Chinese steel industry is indispensable commitments to achieve the sustainable development of China. Hereby, based on the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIPRAT) model, this paper combines the economic growth function, carbon emission production function, and the FDI function of the Chinese steel industry, and uses the three-stage least square equation model (3SLS) to analyze the relationship between China's economic growth, carbon emissions in the steel industry, and FDI (foreign direct investment) inflows. The results document a complete two-way causal relationship of three variables in the whole country and the Western region, while the relationship in the Eastern region and the Central region is not complete. Moreover, there are no bidirectional causal relationship between carbon emissions and FDI in the Eastern region, while only bidirectional causality between carbon emissions and FDI in the Central region. These findings are of great significance for the Chinese steel industry to formulate effective emission reduction policies., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The efficiency of monetary policy substantially depends on the phase of the housing cycle since house prices are important determinants of banks' willingness to lend. This paper presents evidence on 31 countries which shows that over the pandemic Covid-19 period, in a regime of a strong housing market, the effects of a monetary expansion are smaller than in a regime of low house prices. The findings are important for central banks which have implemented easing monetary policies responding to the Covid-19 pandemic., (© 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Prediction of oil prices is an implausible task due to the multifaceted nature of oil markets. This study presents two novel hybrid models to forecast WTI and Brent crude oil prices using combinations of machine learning and nature inspired algorithms. The first approach, MARSplines-IPSO-BPNN, Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARSPlines) find the important variables that affect crude oil prices. Then, the selected variables are fed into an Improved Particle Swarm Optimization (IPSO) method to obtain the best estimates of the parameters of the Backpropagation Neural Network (BPNN). Once these parameters are obtained, the variables are fed into the BPNN model to generate the required forecasts. The second approach, MARSplines-FPA-BPNN, generates the parameters of BPNN through the Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA). The forecasting ability of these new models is compared to certain benchmark models. The findings document that the MARSplines-FPA-BPNN model performs better than the other competitive models., (© 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study inspects the empirical association between inflation instability, GDP growth volatility, and the environmental quality in Pakistan, covering the period 1975-2018 by using an asymmetric autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) methodological approach. The asymmetric ARDL results document that positive and negative shocks of inflation instability have different effects on environmental quality. Negative shocks of inflation instability have a positive influence on carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 ) and nitrous oxide emissions (N 2 O), while positive shocks of inflation instability have insignificant effects in the long run. Asymmetric findings also suggest that positive and negative fluctuations in GDP growth volatility affect CO 2 and N 2 O emissions differently, while they have insignificant results on methane emissions (CH 4 ) in the long run. Additionally, in the short run, positive and negative shocks of inflation instability and GDP growth volatility behave differently in terms of their impact on pollution emissions. Based on these findings, the study opens up innovative intuitions for policymakers to support a robust role of economic stability in attaining targets relevant to pollution reduction.

This paper investigates the long-run dynamics between health care expenditure and environmental pollution across four global income groups. The analysis uses data from 178 countries, spanning the period 1995-2017. Panel estimations are employed with unobserved heterogeneity, temporal persistence, and cross-sectional dependence using a model with common correlated effects. The findings document that the health care expenditure is a necessity for all sub-groups. We established that a 1% increase in national income increased health expenditure by 7.2% in the full sample, and 9.3%, 8.6%, 6.8% and 2.9% for low, low-middle, upper-middle and high-income groups, respectively, while a 1% increase in CO 2 emissions increased health expenditure by 2.5% in the full sample, and 2.9%, 1.2%, 2.3% and 2.6% across these four income groups. We recommend that coordinated approach is needed in setting policy goals both in energy and health sectors in mitigating the negative effects of pollution. Our findings indicate that low-carbon emissions and energy efficient health care services will significantly reduce future health care expenses.

This study investigates the Granger-causal relationship between renewable and non-renewable electricity consumption and economic growth in the case of Central America within a panel error correction model framework. Larsson et al. (2001) panel cointegration test reveals a long-run equilibrium relationship between real gross domestic product, renewable electricity consumption, non-renewable electricity consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force. With the exception of renewable electricity consumption, the respective long-run coefficient estimates are positive and statistically significant. The results from the panel error correction model indicate unidirectional causality from renewable electricity consumption to economic growth in the short-run, but bidirectional causality in the long-run. The results also indicate bidirectional causality between non-renewable electricity consumption and economic growth in both the short-run and long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the causal relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth for 80 countries within a multivariate panel framework over the period 1990–2007. The results of the panel cointegration test indicates there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between real gross domestic product, renewable energy consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force with the respective coefficient estimates positive and statistically significant. The results from the panel error correction model reveal bidirectional causality between renewable energy consumption and economic growth in both the short-run and long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study utilizes panel cointegration techniques to estimate the long-run relationship as well as the causal dynamics between renewable energy consumption per capita, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, carbon dioxide emissions per capita, and real oil prices for a panel of 11 South American countries over the period 1980 to 2010. Specifically, we find the long-run elasticity estimates are positive and statistically significant with respect to real GDP per capita, carbon emissions per capita, and real oil prices. The results of the panel error correction model reveal a feedback relationship among the variables in question, indicative of the importance of renewable energy consumption in both the growth of output and the containment of carbon dioxide emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Environmental policies are a significant cornerstone of a developed economy, but the question that arises is whether such policies lead to a sustainable growth path. It is clear that the energy sector plays a pivotal role in environmental policies, and although the current literature has focused on examining the link between energy consumption and economic growth through an abundance of studies, it does not explicitly consider the role of institutional or governance quality variables in the process. Both globalization and democracy are important drivers of sustainability, while environmentalism is essential for the objective of gaining a "better world." Governance quality is expected to be the key, not only for economic purposes but also for the efficiency of environmental policies. To that end, the analysis in this paper explores the link between governance quality and energy efficiency for the EU-28 countries, spanning the period 1995 to 2014. The findings document that there is a nexus between energy efficiency and income they move together: the most efficient countries are in the group with higher GDP per capita. Furthermore, the results show that governance quality is an important driver of energy efficiency and, hence, of environmental policies.

This paper explores the impact of shale gas and oil fracking wells on infants' health at birth across Oklahoma counties. The empirical analysis makes use of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test, as well as the (long-run) Pooled Mean Group method. The results clearly document that there is a unidirectional relationship between fracking activities and three alternative indexes of infants' health at birth, as well as a significant impact of fracking on infants' health indicators. In addition, the results illustrate the substantial role of fracking through the drinking water quality channel.

The goal of this paper is to identify, for the first time, the role of solar production in driving silver prices. The empirical analysis makes use of the ARDL model and the combined cointegration. The results, spanning the period 1990-2016, document that stronger solar installed capacities, as well as higher gross electricity production from solar sources, lead to higher silver prices. The findings could be of great importance to silver suppliers and to energy policymakers and regulators, as well as to solar panel manufacturers.

This study extends the investigation of the relationship between renewable and non-renewable electricity consumption and economic growth for 16 emerging market economies within a time-varying coefficient cointegration model spanning the period 1990–2011. The standard panel cointegration tests with fixed coefficients indicate that there is a stable long-run equilibrium relationship between real gross domestic product, renewable electricity consumption, non-renewable electricity consumption, real gross fixed capital formation, and the labor force. However, the time-varying coefficient cointegration tests show that the stability of the long-run relationship is rejected with the coefficient for non-renewable electricity consumption declining over time while the coefficient for renewable electricity consumption rising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of electricity consumption, as a proxy for economic activity, on stock prices for a panel of 23 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries for the period 1992 to 2010. Heterogeneous panel cointegration tests reveal a long-run equilibrium relationship between stock prices and electricity consumption, while controlling for factors related to arbitrage pricing models and macroeconomic fundamentals. Finally, the panel error correction model shows bidirectional causality in both the short-run and long-run between electricity consumption and stock prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's world, where the dramatic effects of climate change continue to increase, it is critical to turn from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources to achieve the CO 2 emission reduction targets that countries have committed at the Paris Climate Agreement and COP 27 conference. This study analyzes the effects of macroeconomic factors, including economic growth, investments, and unemployment, on the transition to renewable energy in OECD countries. From 1996 to 2020, long-run relationships between variables were examined using advanced econometric methodologies for empirical analysis. For this purpose, panel data analysis, second-generation panel unit root tests, cross-sectional dependence tests, and panel cointegration tests were applied. Economically, in the long run, according to panel CCEMG and AMG estimator, while economic growth enhances the renewable energy transitions, investment does not statistically promote an impact on the renewable energy transitions. Renewable energy transition increases with unemployment. Moreover, the role of the considered variables in the renewable energy transition varies among country-specific. Within the framework of the results obtained, it has been proven that before determining policies for renewable energy transformation, it is necessary to do the necessary groundwork in the economy to increase economic growth and investments and reduce unemployment., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This key article seeks to empirically examine the impact of geopolitical risk, economic policy uncertainty (EPU), natural resources, and renewable energy on a country's ecological footprint, a proxy for environmental sustainability on a national scale. We conducted a quantitative study using the cross-sectional autoregressive distributive lag, augmented mean group, and common correlated effect mean group estimation models, as well as a few tests such as the CD test, Westerlund's co-integration, and CIPS and CADF unit root tests, beginning in January 2000 and ending in January 2021, to determine the data's reliability. The findings indicate that while GPR and renewable energy sources lessen the ecological footprint (EF), EPU and the use of non-renewable energy enhance the EF. The study's scope is narrowed to the BRICS nations, but its implications for expanding existing knowledge and shaping policy are enormous. The results can aid decision-makers in preparing for the possibility of unexpected events causing harm to the economy. The reliability of the evidence can be strengthened by employing more stringent research methods. This study's dimensions reflect the current research paradigm. The research has policy implications for achieving sustainable development goals in emerging economies., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Achieving carbon neutrality targets is crucial while considering the adverse impacts of carbon dioxide emissions (CE) on human life and the ecosystem. Therefore, its socioeconomic drivers have frequently been probed in the existing body of literature. Therefore, we investigate the impact of energy efficiency, FDI, financial development, urbanization, and economic growth on CE in Pakistan from 1975 to 2020. For this purpose, we apply the novel dynamic ARDL simulation approach to retrieve the short- and long-run estimates. The empirical results confirm that cointegration exists among the considered variables. Further, both the short- and long-run results reveal that energy efficiency impedes emissions, whereas urbanization, financial development, and FDI increase emissions. Considering the outcomes, there is a need to enhance energy efficiency in Pakistan. For this purpose, investment in technological advancements and innovations is required. Moreover, R&D in the energy sector should be promoted., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)