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In this work, we examine two modifications of fine-ground calcium carbonate material (GCC) in order to enhanced sorption of NO 2 and subsequent reaction properties toward NO 2 - /NO 3 - formation by firstly exposing the GCC to supercritical (sc) CO 2 in order to increase particle surface area, a choice specifically made to avoid altering the surface chemistry, and secondly considering the potential advantage of using a surface coupling agent toward NO 2 . The modification by the coupling agent amino silane (AMEO silane) was applied in a supercritical CO 2 -ethanol mixture. The samples were characterised before and after modification by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), specific surface area determination (BET nitrogen adsorption), ATR-FTIR spectroscopy and ion chromatography to reveal the effects of the surface modification(s) on the morphology, surface textural properties and sorption versus reaction properties with NO 2 . The performance of the treated sorbents for NO 2 capture was evaluated at room temperature. Results show that reactivity of NO 2 with GCC was observed to increase as a function of increased surface area resulting from scCO 2 exposure, but that the presence of AMEO silane on the surface, while enhancing initial adsorption of NO 2 was seen subsequently to act to block reactivity. Thus, judicious use of coupling agent can provide desired rapid initial adsorption of the gas, but the goal of long-term CaCO 3 -consuming reactivity, so as to prolong the uptake of NO 2 beyond surface saturation alone, is achieved by increasing surface area while retaining chemical-free exposed CaCO 3 surface., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Globally, the carbon footprint (CF) is constantly increasing, contrasting with the decreasing trend observed for decades in the European Union (EU) countries, where EU guidelines are responsibly followed and outlined in its strategic documents. Information and communication technology (ICT) carbon emissions have historically increased in parallel with global emissions, contributing to continuous increases in ICT's CF over time, even when excluding full life cycle emissions. This study examines the impact of ICT on household electricity consumption, aiming to quantify the potential reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through improved household energy efficiency. The methodology includes the data collection on ICT device usage in households within the city of Novi Sad (Republic of Serbia), employing the survey method that queries respondents on device quantities and their usage patterns. This study provides results for decision-makers to recognize concrete benefits from the transition to a circular economy (CE) and low-carbon emissions, which are reflected as benefits for the local community and socio-economic environment., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The present energy demand of the world is increasing but the fossil fuels are gradually depleting. As a result, the need for alternative fuels and energy sources is growing. Fuel cells could be one alternative to address the challenge. The fuel cell can convert CO 2 to value-added chemicals. The potential of bio-fuel cells, specifically enzymatic fuel cells and microbial fuel cells, and the importance of immobilization technology in bio-fuel cells are highlighted. The review paper also includes a detailed explanation of the microbial electrosynthesis system to reduce CO 2 and the value-added products during microbial electrosynthesis. Future research in bio-electrochemical synthesis for CO 2 conversion is expected to prioritize enhancing biocatalyst efficiency, refining reactor design, exploring novel electrode materials, understanding microbial interactions, integrating renewable energy sources, and investigating electrochemical processes for carbon capture and selective CO 2 reduction. The challenges and perspectives of bio-electrochemical systems in the application of CO 2 conversion are also discussed. Overall, this review paper provides valuable insights into the latest developments and criteria for effective research and implementation in bio-fuel cells, immobilization technology, and microbial electro-synthesis systems., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

As globalization proceeds, increasing biomass energy consumption is an important pathway to replace fossil fuels for tackling climate change by reducing emissions. This study explores the spatial spillover effect in biomass energy carbon reduction, which is frequently ignored when investigating environmental factors. It uncovers whether globalization and its dimensions can strengthen the spatial effect of biomass energy carbon reduction. Besides, we reveal whether biomass energy consumption can promote CO 2 emissions reduction while ensuring economic progress. Results show that (1) owing to the spillover effect, biomass energy consumption plays a significant role in direct and indirect enhancing carbon emissions reduction, with their feedback effects of - 0.003 or 3.3% of the direct effect. (2) Increasing overall, social and political globalization enhances biomass energy consumption's carbon reduction effect. (3) In countries with higher economic development, overall, economic and political globalization has a better promotion in the spatial effect of biomass energy carbon reduction. (4) Developing biomass energy can support the environment quality while enhancing economic growth., (© 2024. 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.)

This study investigates the effects of environmental tax and environmental spending on CO2 emissions of 27 countries of the European Union EU27 countries using annual time series data from 1995 to 2022. The study used linear and non-linear autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL and NARDL) to examine the relationship. Estimates claim that the variables have a symmetric and asymmetric long-term and short-term relationship. The negative impacts of environmental taxes on CO2 emissions prove that emissions are reduced when polluting activities are taxed. Fiscal policy instrument such as taxation changes the behaviour of the private sector in the EU27 nations by disincentivizing polluting activities. On the other hand, government investment in environmental protection has encouraged the private sector in the EU27 nations to embrace and invest in green technologies, decreasing CO2 emissions. The ECM term is negative and statistically significant at a 1 percent significance level for ARDL and NARDL models, implying a stable long-run relationship between variables. It demonstrates that short-run disequilibrium converges to long-run equilibrium at a speed of 9.2% (in the ARDL model) and 22.7% (in the NARDL model). The study also sheds fresh light on the effectiveness of environmental taxes vs. expenditure, where taxes serve as a counter-incentive policy for CO2 emissions, and spending is a positive policy intervention., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The European Council completed the legislative procedure to establish the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on April 25, 2023, which will be launched in 2027. The iron and steel sector is the main target of the forthcoming CBAM due to the industry's energy-intensive consumption with high carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. However, minimal existing research has been conducted in this regard. This study employs GTAP-e 11.0 and TOPSIS models to estimate the effects of CBAM implementation on the major nations around the world from 2027 to 2030, examining countries' GDP, social welfare, iron and steel production, trade balance, and CO 2 emissions to the global environment. This study concludes: (1) The GDP and social welfare of important iron and steel trade partners throughout the world will be significantly impacted by the application of CBAM. Most nations, including those in the EU, will experience negative GDP effects, with China undergoing the most pronounced social welfare declines followed by India. In contrast, the EU27 will benefit the most in terms of social welfare, followed by the US, Japan, and Russia. (2) Iron and steel production will decrease in all countries outside the EU, but it will have a positive impact on the trade balance of most countries. (3) The CO 2 emissions of all countries except for the EU and Japan will decrease, with a positive impact on preventing carbon leakage in the international iron and steel trade. (4) Comprehensive analysis demonstrates that the EU will benefit the most, and China will suffer the most from CBAM application. Based on the above conclusions, this study proposes corresponding policy recommendations., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The EKC hypothesis expresses the inverted U-shaped relationship between per capita income and environmental quality. In the literature, the role of technological innovations and income inequality on pollution is a relatively recent discussion in the studies testing the EKC hypothesis. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of technological innovations, income inequality, exports, urbanization, and growth on CO 2 emissions in EU-27. In addition, while investigating this relationship, exports and urbanization are also considered and panel vector autoregression (PVAR) analysis is applied for the 2005-2019 period. According to the coefficient estimation results, while income inequality, exports, and urbanization increase pollution, technological innovations contribute to environmental quality. Also, the results demonstrated that the EKC hypothesis is invalid in these countries and there is a U-shaped relationship between growth and emissions. The causality test results revealed the presence of unidirectional causality running from all explanatory variables to CO 2 emissions. Moreover, impulse-response graphs demonstrated that the reply of emissions to the shocks in the explanatory variables is similar to the long-run coefficient results. In conclusion, all available empirical evidence for this relationship highlights that income inequality and technological innovations should be considered in policy-making processes to ensure environmental quality in EU-27 countries., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

To find a way to realize sustainable development, this paper applied a cross-sectional ARDL (CS-ARDL) method to explore the interaction between carbon emissions, economic development, and health care expenditure for OECD countries. Firstly, we conduct a cross-sectional test to check whether the data is confronted with this issue. Secondly, we conduct a panel unit root test and cointegration test to confirm whether the ARDL-based method is suitable for our data. Thirdly, we analyze the results and provide possible explanations. Lastly, we conduct a short-term causality test to detect the connection between different variables. The main conclusion of our study includes: 1) Health care is a necessity in OECD countries. 2) Environmental deterioration places a heavy burden on health care expenditure in OECD countries. 3) Health care expenditure of last year negatively affects health care expenditure. 4) There is a short-run causality relationship from CO 2 , economic development, and dependency rate of youth to health care expenditure in OECD countries. Related policy proposals are provided according to our analysis of the results., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Estimating the asymmetrical influence of foreign direct investment is the primary goal of the current study. In addition, further controlled variables affect environmental degradation in OIC nations. Due to this, current research employs the asymmetric (NPARDL) approach and the data period from 1980 to 2021 to estimate about viability of the EKC (environmental Kuznets curve) theory. The study utilized greenhouse gas (GHG) including emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), nitrous oxide (N 2 O), methane (CH 4 ), and ecological footprint as substantial parameters of environmental quality. A nonlinear link between foreign direct investments, trade openness, economic growth, urbanization, energy consumption, and environmental pollution with CO 2 , N 2 O, CH 4 , and ecological footprint in the OIC nations is confirmed by the study's outcomes, which however reveals inconsistent results. Furthermore, the results also show that wrong conclusions might result from disregarding intrinsic nonlinearities. The study's conclusions provide the most important recommendations for decision-makers., (© 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.)

This study tests the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in the transport sector for 28 OECD countries from 1990 to 2019. As a novelty, the relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from the transport sector is investigated with the estimation of the dynamic panel threshold regression based on the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator by Seo and Shin (Seo and Shin, J Econom 2:169-186, 2016). This approach enables us to test EKC and capture possible nonlinearities between variables. Along with the analysis of the EKC hypothesis, our study also investigates the effects of road petroleum products consumption, renewable energy consumption, and trade openness on transport CO 2 emissions. The threshold regression results, where GDP per capita is employed as the transition variable, support the nonlinear relationship between CO 2 emissions from the transportation sector and GDP by rejecting the null hypothesis of no threshold effect. This finding indicates the existence of two different regimes, i.e., the lower and upper regimes, based on the optimum value of the GDP per capita. Economic growth damages the environment in the lower regime, whereas it improves environmental quality in the upper regime. Therefore, the results indicate the presence of an inverted U-shaped relationship and support the EKC hypothesis in the OECD transportation sector. As a result, it is concluded that achieving sustainable economic growth is critical for investing in environmentally friendly technologies required to achieve the goal of reducing transportation-related CO 2 ., (© 2023. 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.)

The modern era of globalization, economic development, and increase in manufacturing activity pose severe risks to the natural environment. In this context, industries must prioritize sustainable economic growth and development. Thus, the purpose of this study is to provide insight into industrial competition, renewable energy, economic freedom, manufacturing value added, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 emissions) in the top ten high-income countries from 1997 to 2019. The results from panel cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL), augmented mean group (AMG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) techniques revealed that economic growth and industrial production have a harmful influence on CO 2 emissions. Meanwhile, industrial competitiveness, renewable energy, and economic freedom are all negatively associated with CO 2 emissions. This specifies that industrial competitiveness, renewable energy, and economic freedom are favorably related to environmental sustainability by limiting CO 2 emissions in the top ten high-income countries. These findings imply that governments and responsible authorities/policymakers develop strategies to reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing value addition and economic growth in the top ten high-income countries and allocate more financial resources to renewable energy and promote industrial competition., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper investigates the time-varying effects of fossil fuel consumption on CO2 emissions in India utilizing the time-varying cointegration test, allowing for multivariate long-run time-varying cointegration parameter developed by Bierens and Martins (2010) and the time-varying vector autoregressive (TVP-VAR) model developed by Primiceri (2005). The long-run time-varying coefficients reveal that GDP has a positive and increasing impact on CO2 emissions over time. Moreover, results confirm the polluting effects of all fossil fuels. Besides, the TVP-VAR model findings also demonstrate that changes in income and fossil fuel consumption have a positive and significant impact on environmental degradation. Coal is found to be the most polluting fuel, followed by oil consumption. Furthermore, the time-varying responses show that increased natural gas consumption has the least influence when compared to other fossil fuels on CO2 emissions., (© 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.)

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.)

The main hurdle in deploying renewable energy projects is the high initial cost, making it difficult for businesses and individuals to afford it. The fragility of the financial sector and human resource management further slows the pace of renewable energy demand. Therefore, we aim to investigate the impact of financial fragility and human resource management on renewable energy consumption over time horizon 1997-2020. To that end, the analysis employed the ARDL-PMG model. For Asia as a whole and all other sub-regions, including South East Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Western Asia, the estimates for bank non-performing loans are notably negative. In general, these findings imply that a rise in financial fragility significantly reduces renewable energy consumption in the long run. In the short run, the estimates attached to both bank non-performing loans and bank costs are negatively significant in Asia and sub-regions of Western Asia only. The results for the human resources show that it exerts a significant and positive influence on renewable energy demand in Asia as a whole, South Asia, East Asia, and Western Asia. The estimates attached to human resources are statistically insignificant in all models in the short run. In the end, some important public strategies and their implementations have been discussed., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

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.)

The rapid development of the Internet has significantly impacted various socio-economic activities. Using Chinese Industrial Enterprise database and Industrial Enterprise Pollution database, this research examines the impact and mechanisms of Internet development on CO 2 emissions. The key findings are as follows: (1) Internet development has substantially reduced the CO 2 intensity of enterprises, and this conclusion remains robust even after performing a series of robustness analyses. (2) The major mechanisms responsible for the reduction in CO 2 emissions are productivity improvement, technological innovation, and energy structure adjustment. (3) The analysis of heterogeneity reveals that the effect of Internet development on CO 2 reduction is more pronounced in coastal areas, areas with a high share of secondary industry, low-carbon industries, clean industries, small-scale enterprises, and export enterprises. This study provides empirical evidence supporting China's "Internet+" strategy and its progress towards achieving the "Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals.", (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The BRICS nations-Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa-have grown significantly in importance over the past few decades, playing a vital role in the development and growth of the global economy. This expansion has not been without cost, either, since these countries' concern over environmental deterioration has risen sharply. Both researchers and decision-makers have focused a lot of attention on the connection between economic growth and ecological sustainability. By using nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) approach, the complex relationships were analyzed between important economic indicators-such as gross domestic product (GDP), ecological innovations (EI), energy consumption (ENC), institutional performance (IP), and trade openness (TOP)-and their effect on carbon emissions and nitrous oxide emissions in the BRICS countries from 1990 to 2021, this study seeks to contribute to this important dialog. Principal component analysis is formed for technological innovations and institutional performance using six (ICT service exports as a percentage of service exports, computer communications as a percentage of commercial service exports, fixed telephone subscriptions per 100 people, internet users as a percentage of the population, number of patent applications, and R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP) and twelve (government stability, investment profile, socioeconomic conditions, internal conflict, external conflict, military in politics, control of corruption, religious tensions, ethnic tensions, law and order, bureaucracy quality, and democratic accountability) distinct indicators, respectively. The results of nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag estimation show that increase in economic growth would increase carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions. The positive and negative shocks in trade openness have positive and significant impact on carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions in BRICS countries. Furthermore, the positive shock energy consumptions have positive and significant effect on Brazil and India when carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions are used. However, EKC exists in BRICS countries when carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide emissions are used. According to long-term estimation, energy consumption and technological innovations in the BRICS countries show a strong and adverse link with nitrous oxide and a favorable relationship with carbon dioxide emissions. In the long run, environmental indicators are seen to have a major and unfavorable impact in BRICS nations. Finally, it is proposed that BRICS nations can assure environmental sustainability if they support creative activities, enhance their institutions, and support free trade policies., (© 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.)

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 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).)

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.)

Since the 1980s, Turkey has experienced a significant increase in both foreign direct investment (FDI) and its ecological footprint (EFP). While FDI is widely acknowledged as a pivotal driver of economic growth, its impact on environmental degradation is multifaceted and debated. Moreover, a country's institutional framework plays a key role in shaping this relationship. Yet, the influence of institutional structures on the FDI-environment nexus is often neglected in current literature. In this study, we investigate the environmental implications of FDI in Turkey from 1984 to 2018, employing time series analysis with a Fourier extension and accounting for institutional quality. Fourier function models give more effective results in modeling structural breaks. We first use Fourier techniques to assess the unit root and cointegration relationship. Upon establishing cointegration, we employ the DOLS estimator, extended with Fourier terms, to determine the long-term coefficients. We then assess the causal relationship between the variables using the Fourier causality test. Our findings indicate that while FDI exacerbates environmental degradation (supporting the pollution haven hypothesis), the interaction term of FDI-institutional quality mitigates this degradation (supporting the pollution halo hypothesis). Given these empirical findings, this study suggests that strengthening Turkey's institutional quality has the potential to amplify the environmental advantages of FDI, alongside its economic benefits., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Due to urbanization's substantial impact on economic development and environmental quality, particularly in emerging nations, the subject has attracted major attention in recent years. Urbanization increases infrastructure, transportation, and high energy consumption demand, leading to increased environmental degradation. Therefore, this study examines how urbanization has affected environmental degradation in Pakistan using yearly data from 1970 to 2020. A non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model is applied to study the asymmetric impact of urbanization on ecological footprint per capita. The results show that urbanization is asymmetrically associated with environmental degradation. Positive changes in urbanization led to increased environmental degradation, while negative changes in urbanization led to a decline in environmental degradation in Pakistan. Foreign direct investment and industrial production are positive and significant factors of environmental degradation, while trade openness and money supply are negatively linked with environmental degradation in Pakistan. Economic growth shows a positive link, while economic growth square shows a negative link with environmental degradation. These findings also confirm the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Pakistan. It is suggested that the urbanization threshold should be analyzed to determine where environmental degradation tends to decline, and less polluting technology and renewable energy resources should be encouraged to reduce environmental degradation in Pakistan., (© 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 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.)

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.)

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.)

Russia holds the position of being the third largest global producer of oil and plays a significant role in the supply of oil and gas to Europe. The ongoing war conflict has the potential to impede the bilateral and multilateral relations between Russia and Europe. The ramifications of this event will have notable reverberations for environmental endeavors in Europe. The aforementioned premise forms the basis of our investigation, wherein we scrutinize the correlation among oil price, coal price, gas price, economic growth, and coal consumption, while taking into account the ramifications of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. We adopted fully "modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and canonical cointegration regression (CCR)" econometric techniques to gauge the nexus between factors of interest in the top 4 European Russian gas importer economies (Poland, Netherland, Hungry, and Germany). The empirical outcomes reveal substantial negative impact of economic growth and coal price elasticity on the coal consumption. On the contrary, oil and gas price elasticities depict significant positive influence on the coal consumption. Hence, this study concludes that a rise in oil and gas prices leads to an increase in coal consumption, which in turn negatively impacts environmental quality. Furthermore, the occurrence of war has the potential to impede the utilization of coal resources in Netherlands and Hungary. On the other hand, the impact of war is noteworthy and constructive in Poland and Germany. Thus, war results ecological imbalance in Poland and Germany in particular. Governments, decision-makers, stakeholders, and environmentalists must develop a long-term plan that calls for a paradigm shift away from gas, oil, and coal usage and toward more environmentally benign renewable energy sources., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

We examined the relationship of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions with real per capita GDP and energy consumption in the ASEAN region using panel data from 1960 to 2021. We employed various panel unit root tests (IPS, Fisher-ADF, Fisher-PP) and panel cointegration tests (Kao and Pedroni). We find robust empirical evidence supporting the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis, suggesting the existence of a per capita income turning point (approximately USD 4,808.85) where CO 2 emissions and real income begin to decouple. This suggests the presence of an environmentally sustainable economic growth path beyond this threshold. The study highlights the importance of a reduction of fossil fuel use and the adoption of coordinated strategic plans among ASEAN member states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper aims to revisit the interdependency between business conditions, climate policy change, and the environmental pollution of the USA. Interestingly, our paper represents a completion to the existing literature on three levels at least. First, we propose to analyze this issue during normal periods and periods of turmoil, particularly the COVID-19 outbreak. To do so, contrary to previous studies that used economic growth, we employ the ADS index as a real-time business conditions measurement. Second, we employ a frequency approach, based on the continuous wavelet transform, allowing us to understand the nature of the relationship. Understanding whether the relationship holds in the short- or long-term is useful for policymakers in monitoring public policies to achieve CO 2 emission reduction as well as to investors interested in high value-added projects. Our analysis shows that, during the last two decades, the relationship between business conditions as well as climate uncertainty index and CO 2 emissions is observed during the long- and short-term, and driven through economic conditions. However, during the crisis periods, the effect is detected across various scales and the relationship is bi-directional. Our results have several practical implications for the US policymakers to consider when setting policies for fighting pollution emissions and environmental protection., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Pollution and energy crisis are actual issues in Europe, including the EU Central and Eastern European states. In this context, the objective of this paper is to assess the impact of economic growth and electricity prices for non-household consumers on pollution. The empirical findings reveal the U pattern for energy industry and inverted U pattern for manufacturing in the period 2007-2021 in the EU countries from Central and Eastern Europe. Renewable energy consumption reduces the CO2 and GHG emissions in energy industry. FDI and electricity prices determine the reduction in GHG and CO2 emissions in both sectors. These results are the basis for policy recommendations., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The connection between ecological footprint and economic complexity has significant implications for environmental sustainability regarding the policy. Additionally, institutional quality is crucial in ensuring environmental sustainability and moderating the link between economic complexity and ecological footprint. The task of achieving sustainable environmental development and preventing further degradation of the environment poses a formidable challenge to policymakers. This study delves into the significance of technology innovation and renewable energy in creating a more sustainable environment. Recognizing the need for a more critical review, this research establishes the dynamic linkage between ecological footprint, renewable energy consumption, and technological innovation, especially in conjunction with a moderating component, particularly institutional quality, in G20 countries from 1990 to 2021. We employ advanced panel approaches to address panel data analysis concerns, such as cross-sectional dependence, slope heterogeneity, unit root, cointegration test and CS-ARDL. The long-term estimator indicates that renewable energy and technological innovation negatively but significantly impact the ecological footprint. Whilst economic growth, FDI, and urbanization have shown a positive and significant impact on ecological footprint; institutional quality negatively moderates the relationship between ecological footprint, renewable energy, and technological innovation in the G20 countries. Further evidence from the Dumitrescu-Hurlin Granger causality test shows that efforts to expand access to renewable energy, technological advancements, and economic growth will significantly affect environmental impacts. Based on our results, it is imperative to introduce more favorable legislation and encourage technological advancements in the field of renewable energy if we want to achieve our sustainable development objectives., (© 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.)

China has abundant agricultural and forestry waste resources that are crucial sources of energy for substituting fossil fuels and achieving the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. These resources play an essential role in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and promoting sustainable development. This paper presents an estimation of the number of biomass resources that can be used for energy in 2020 by using parameters such as the grass-to-grain ratio coefficient and excretion coefficient. Moreover, the potential for conversion of biomass resources into biomass energy is evaluated by using parameters such as lower heating value and gas production coefficient. Finally, based on the whole life cycle theory, the potential of biomass energy utilization to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and its impact on carbon peaking is calculated. It was found that the total amount of fossil fuels that can be replaced by biomass energy is 256 million tons of standard coal. Utilizing biomass energy can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 520 million tons, with a peak impact of 4-6% on carbon peaking. The research results presented in this article can provide valuable data to support the promotion of green transformation in various regions. The findings can serve as a useful reference for formulating localized biomass utilization plans and designing effective emission reduction policies., (© 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 examines the connection between economic policy uncertainty (EPU), CO2 emissions, and financial inclusion in developed and developing countries. Using the data from 2004 to 2021, advanced statistical techniques are employed, including Sobel test, to explore the mediating effect of financial inclusion on the relationship between economic policy uncertainty (EPU) and CO2 emissions. There is a dearth of research examining these three variables together in a single study. Similarly, using financial inclusion as a mediator in the relation of EPU and CO2 emissions is a novel concept. This article employs a multi-indicator approach to measure key variables like CO2 emissions and financial inclusion. The results indicate that uncertainties in economic policies contribute in practices that lead to higher CO2 emissions in overall panel data of 44 countries. In addition, when considering the relationship between EPU and FI, the results indicate a significant and negative relationship between EPU and FI. If there is uncertainty in economic policies, it may lead toward challenges and hurdles in financial inclusion. When the mediating affect was checked, it was found financial inclusion acts as a significant mediator in the relationship between EPU and CO2 emissions, depicting that financial inclusion fosters the environmental quality and mitigates the potential harmful effects of environmental aspects of economic policy uncertainty. Therefore, policies that promote financial inclusion should be given top priority by governments, particularly in emerging nations. Financial literacy and bank service accessibility should be promoted. These measures would lessen the impact of staggering economic policies on CO2 emissions. It is necessary for policymakers to include environmental factors, specifically those relating to carbon emissions, into economic strategies. This requires encouraging industries to adopt eco-friendly practices and coordinating economic strategies with sustainability objectives., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study examines the nexus between "stock returns," carbon emissions, and "environmental tax" in 28 OECD countries for the period 1994 to 2014. To this end, we employ second-generation econometric techniques that are robust to macroeconomic and financial datasets to eliminate the issues associated with heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. The "common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG)" and "augmented mean group (AMG)" estimators are a pioneering attempt to explore the association between the cross sections. These approaches take into account the complexities of real-world data and provide a more accurate understanding of the relationship between the variables. Several studies explored the relationship between CO 2 emissions and economic growth. However, the literature lacks studies examining the impact of "environmental tax" implementation on "stock returns," which is a central policy instrument to curb emissions. The results demonstrate a significant and negative relationship between CO 2 emissions and "stock market index returns" and a positive and significant relationship between "environmental tax" and "stock market index returns." Furthermore, both these relationships prevail in the world's biggest financial markets and second largest CO 2 emitters, the USA. The empirical findings offer various useful implications for investors, policymakers, brokers, corporations, governmental pollution abatement institutions, and other stakeholders who wish to obtain a carbon risk premium., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China has significantly increased trade in countries along the Belt and Road (B&R). Since most of these countries are developing and emerging economies, the pressure to reduce carbon emissions poses a leading challenge for them. Carbon productivity has become a key indicator for assessing the degree of low-carbon development, as it can link economic development with CO 2 emission reduction. However, few studies have investigated how international trade affects carbon productivity. Based on panel data from 43 countries along the B&R during 2001-2019, this paper uses a system GMM model to explore the impact of international trade on carbon productivity. Then, we divide the 43 countries in the sample into two groups according to their income levels to compare the different effects of international trade on carbon productivity. The results show that, first, the carbon productivity of the examined B&R countries has an overall increasing trend, and there is a significant heterogeneity of carbon productivity among countries with different income levels. Second, the effects of international trade, export, and import on carbon productivity are all significantly positive, and export's effect is higher than import. In the high-income group, carbon productivity is more likely to be improved by trade than in the middle (low)-income group. Third, economic development level, urbanization, and energy productivity are positively associated with carbon productivity, while CO 2 per capita and government size inhibit carbon productivity improvement. Insight into the impact of international trade on carbon productivity provides theoretical support for B&R countries to better leverage foreign trade activities to achieve a green economy., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

A growing number of studies have examined the extent to which economic liberalization policies would influence carbon emissions. These studies have examined this relationship while neglecting the key role that renewable energy could play in this complex relationship. The study fills that gap. It aims to examine the mediated effect of renewable energy consumption in the relationship between economic freedom and carbon emissions in 138 countries worldwide over the period 1995-2018. In this perspective, the study followed a second-generation panel econometric tests. We used Driscoll and Kraay standard errors (DKSE) and common correlated effect mean group (CCEMG) estimators for baseline results. The robustness of the results was checked using fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), system generalized method of moments (System-GMM), and quantile regression (QREG). Furthermore, the study mobilized Dumitrescu and Hurlin's panel causality test to examine the causal relationship between the variables under study. The results suggest that economic freedom has a direct and indirect negative effect on carbon emissions and that renewable energy consumption mediates the effect of economic freedom on carbon emissions. These results remained unchanged at the battery of robustness checks. Moreover, Dumitrescu and Hurlin's panel causality test results indicated a bidirectional causal relationship between economic freedom, renewable energy consumption, economic growth, economic globalization, and population size with carbon emissions. The various empirical findings have helped to formulate useful policy implications for policy-makers to ensure environmental sustainability., (© 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.)

Human capital (HC) plays a crucial role in economic growth, and also has a considerable effect on environmental performance, including carbon emissions (CEs). Existing studies have drawn inconsistent conclusions on whether and how HC affects CEs, and most of them conduct case studies of a certain country or several countries with similar economic backgrounds. In order to accurately determine the effect and the influence mechanism of HC on CEs, this research conducted an empirical study by applying econometric method and the panel data of 125 countries over the period 2000-2019. The empirical results indicate that there is an inverted U-shaped nexus between HC and CEs of full sample countries, revealing that HC will increase CEs before turning point and decrease CEs after turning point. From a heterogeneity perspective, this inverted U-shaped nexus only exists in high and upper-middle income countries, while is not supported in low and lower-middle income countries. This study further disclosed that HC can affect CEs by the mediating effects of labor productivity, energy intensity, and industrial structure from a macro perspective. Specifically, HC will increase CEs by promoting labor productivity, while decrease CEs by reducing energy intensity and the proportion of secondary industry. These results can provide important references for governments of different countries to make tailored carbon reduction policies according to the mitigation effect of HC on CEs., (© 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.)

The paper studies the interaction between a set of bank performance indicators (concentration, profitability, and risk) and the carbon footprint of bank loans. Our research builds on the panel data analysis for 37 countries during 2010-2018, adopting local projections proposed by Jordá (Am Econ Rev 95(1):161-182, 2005), a feasible alternative to panel VAR estimation in case of short time series. In order to account for potentially different patterns in the relationship among the indicators, we split the whole panel into two sub-panels, using K-means clusterization based on income level, resource abundance, and overall environmental performance. For the whole panel, the carbon footprint is driven by systemic risk, while leading the non-performing loans (NPL) ratio and Z-score. Thus, curbing systemic risk matters to reduce the carbon footprint of bank loans. Otherwise, it may amplify the effects of the latter on the NPL ratio and Z-score. Interestingly, the effect of systemic risk on the carbon footprint stems from the sub-panel consisting of developed countries, while the effect of the carbon footprint on the NPL ratio and Z-score is mainly shaped by developing and emerging market economies. The relationships between the carbon footprint of lending, concentration, and profitability are much less pronounced both for the whole panel and for the sub-panels., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The nations participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are particularly vulnerable to the challenges posed by climate change due to their extensive trading activities. The need to protect the environment and mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change in these countries is of utmost importance. Therefore, this study contributes to the scientific understanding of this issue by examining the relationship between trade openness and environmental sustainability in 89 BRI countries from 1990 to 2020. Additionally, control variables, including economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, industrialization, and foreign direct investment, are considered to address omitted variable bias issues. The study utilizes the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) regression estimators, and the findings reveal that trade openness improves environmental sustainability. However, economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, and industrialization degrade environmental sustainability. Interestingly, the results affirm foreign direct investment as a trivial determinant of environmental sustainability. Regarding causal relationships, reciprocal causalities are observed between trade openness and carbon emissions, energy consumption and carbon emissions, and urbanization and carbon emissions. Furthermore, one-way causalities exist from economic growth to carbon emissions and from carbon emissions to foreign direct investment. Nevertheless, no causal relationship is identified between industrialization and carbon emissions. Based on these significant findings, it is recommended that China, as a prominent player in the BRI, takes further steps to enhance and promote energy-efficient practices in BRI countries. One practical approach is the establishment of energy efficiency standards for the goods and services traded with these countries., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of green investments on air quality for developed and developing European countries. In this context, the short- and long-term effects of green investments on air quality were examined by panel generalized method of moments (GMM) and panel causality method. As a result of the GMM analysis, it has been determined that green investments negatively affect the air quality for both developed European countries and developing European countries in the short term, but this effect turns positive in developed countries in the long term. As a result of the panel causality analysis, two-way causality was determined between air quality and green investments., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

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.)