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To a large extent, the theories and concepts behind the effect of ecological footprint have been the paramount concern of the recent literature. Since the rising and falling of environmental degradation have been a continuous issue since the first phase of development, determinants such as economic complexity may play a critical role in achieving long-term sustainable development in the framework of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) paradigm. Therefore, this research expands on the notion of an EKC paradigm for the world's top ten most complex economies by considering four variables, such as real GDP per capita, electricity consumption, trade openness, and a new putative factor of environmental obstacle, the economic complexity index (ECI). This is one of the first studies to look at the impact of ECI on the ecological footprint of a specific sample from 1998 to 2017. The findings demonstrate a continuous inverted U-shaped link between real GDP per capita, the square of real GDP per capita, and ecological footprint. The EKC hypothesis is found to be valid in the long term in the examined complex economies. The findings of the panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) of the pooled mean group (PMG) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimations demonstrate that in the long term, electric power usage contributed to the carbon footprints. Furthermore, the economic complexity index and trade openness increase environmental performance over time. To determine if there is causation between the variables, we employ the panel vector error correction model (VECM) framework. Particularly, the results show unidirectional causality running from electric power consumption to ecological footprint and bidirectional causal relationship between (1) economic growth and ecological footprint; (2) square of economic growth and ecological footprint; (3) economic complexity index and ecological footprint; and (4) trade openness and ecological footprint., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The transition to a low carbon economy has become more realistic with sustainable development goals (SDGs). Economies are on their way to 2030 and 2050 targets by increasing their environmental awareness. However, the most important issue that complicates this process is the dependence on fossil fuels and the need for sufficient time for renewable resources to mature. Previous literature has neglected this and focuses directly on renewable and fossil energy research and development (R&D) budgets. This paper fills the gap in the literature by showing whether the budgets allocated by countries for energy efficiency R&D are important in the maturation process of renewable energy sources. This paper offers policy recommendations to the countries (the USA, Canada, Germany, France, and Japan) that allocate the highest share of the budget to energy efficiency. It also presents the current situation of countries investing in energy efficiency as examples for other countries looking to transition into green energy. This study tackles the effects of energy efficiency R&D budgets, economic growth, trade openness, and natural resources on CO 2 emissions over the period 1985-2019 using Augmented Means Group and Common Correlated Effects Mean Group methods. Empirical findings show that the energy efficiency R&D budgets are not at a level to enhance environmental quality. Moreover, economic growth and trade openness also contribute to environmental damage. On the contrary, natural resources increase environmental quality. In the light of the empirical findings, the considered countries with the largest budgets (top five) should expand their energy efficiency budgets until the transition to renewable energy gains momentum to achieve SDG-13, i.e., climate action, and SDG-7, i.e., affordable and clean energy., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Global warming is a global menace mainly driven by human anthropogenic activities. There is a need for environmental sustainability amidst increased economic growth. To this end, this study draws motivation from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) with special focus on climate change mitigation and ecological balance. Thus, the present study analyses the dynamic relationship between economic growth, conventional energy consumption, access to technological innovation, economic globalisation, and the pertinent role of institutional quality for the case of the Russian Federation. This study employed novel combined Bayer and Hack cointegration test in conjunction with Pesaran's ARDL bounds testing for robustness. Both tests validate a long-run equilibrium relationship between the outlined variables. Furthermore, empirical results show that increase in economic activities and consumption of energy that stem from a fossil-fuel basis both have deteriorating effect on environmental sustainability for Russia. Additionally, effect of globalisation shows mixed results, such as, in the short run, economic globalisation dampens environmental quality as increase in global integration exacerbates environmental quality, while, in the long term, globalisation improves the quality of the environment. On the contribution of institutional quality, it improves environmental sustainability over the investigated period. Interestingly, renewable is seen as a panacea for environmental sustainability in the Russian Federation given its pertinent effect to improve the environment of Russia. From a policy lens, there is need for a paradigm shift to renewables and clean technologies to mitigate the effect of climate change issues. The concluding section presents more policy strategies., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

China is currently in the process of the middle and late stage of industrialization, and energy-related CO 2 emissions have reached 10 Gt. This paper models energy consumption and related CO 2 emissions and analyzes the development trends of various driving factors of CO 2 emissions, explicitly considering China's economic and social development goals in the medium- and long-term. Different scenarios for 2020-2060 are projected based on the Kaya identity. Energy consumption will peak at 6,200 Mtce in 2035 in the BAU scenario with the energy-related CO 2 emissions peaking at 11.1 Gt in 2026-2027 advanced by the rising non-fossil energy share, while energy consumption and CO 2 emissions in the accelerated transition scenario would be potentially reduced by 300 Mtce and 300-400 Mt respectively. In the BAU scenario, the net CO 2 emissions will remain around 2,000 Mt in 2060, after removing 1,800 Mt by CCS/CCUS, indicating that China needs to enhance its post-2030 policy to deliver the carbon neutrality pledge. Steady energy efficiency improvement, radical industrial and energy restructuring are three key driving forces for carbon neutrality., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The association between trade, financial development, consumption of renewable energy, environmental quality, foreign direct investment, and economic growth is important for sustainable growth and environmental strategies. Hence, this research unveils this association in selected low- and high-income economies from 1996 to 2020. Unlike most of the previous literature, this study uses a composite environmental quality index, a composite financial development index, and a composite trade share measure to better represent environmental quality, financial development, and trade openness, respectively. The Continuously Updated Fully Modified and Continuously Updated Bias Corrected estimators along with the Dumitrescu Hurlin causality method are utilized to scrutinize the nature of the linkage between the modeled variables. The long-run estimation provided that consumption of renewable energy and environmental quality augment economic growth in high-income nations, while both these variables do not contribute to the economic growth in low-income countries. Financial development upsurges economic growth in high- as well as low-income nations. Interestingly, trade openness boosts economic growth in high-income countries, while in low-income countries, it obstructs economic growth. In causal linkage, the conservation hypothesis for low-income countries and the feedback hypothesis for high-income countries are confirmed in the context of consumption of renewable energy and economic growth association. The supply-leading hypothesis for low-income countries and the feedback hypothesis for high-income countries are supported regarding the financial development-economic growth nexus. Moreover, one-way causality from growth to environmental quality and bidirectional causality between environmental quality and economic growth for low- and high-income countries are established, respectively. Lastly, exhaustive environmental and economic policies are directed., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study aims to evaluate the environmental and employment impacts of China's value-added trade using the gross exports decomposition method and balance of avoided factor content. The major findings are that China's value-added trade overall leads to increases in global emissions and employment, which are mainly affected by the characteristics of China's exports. However, China's imports indirectly promote global emissions reductions and have a significant driving effect on foreign employment. Trade through onefold value chains plays a dominant role in determining both impacts. Simple global value chain (GVC)-related trade contributes most to reducing global emissions but decreases global employment as well. Complex GVC-related trade overall increases global employment and emissions. At the bilateral level, the impacts are varied, and there are some instances of complex GVC-related bilateral trade that contribute to global emission mitigation. A win-win situation for the environment and employment can be achieved in China's bilateral trade with some countries through specific value chain routes. These findings can provide useful information for balancing trade growth, carbon emission reduction, and job creation and may indicate the future direction of China's upgrade in the GVCs and help allocate emission reduction responsibilities., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The need for a cleaner environment and wealthier economies has been highly recognized by European Union (EU) policymakers of the last years, as evidenced by the creation of a plethora of laws and regulations for reducing carbon dioxide emissions while promoting the economic prosperity of EU countries. Indeed, many works have been done in this field, remarking on climate change's impacts on economies and the need for determinant environmental policies inside the EU. This paper investigates the effect of climate change on economic growth using nonlinear dynamic panel methods for 15 countries of the EU in the period 1981-2019. Specifically, it is examined the impact of temperature, precipitation, and CO 2 emissions on economic growth. So, autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) methods were employed, overcoming cross-dependency and also considering linearity and nonlinearity. The results showed that economic growth has positive nonlinear relationship with long-run temperature, but in short-run they have a symmetric negative association. Moreover, precipitation has long-run negative and a short-run positive relationship with economic growth. However, when CO 2 emissions are added, then model's performance is decreased, and precipitation has a positive effect on economic growth, but all others, except from temperature increase, become insignificant. Finally, actions should be taken for more stable climate conditions and consistent environmental policies by EU countries., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Tunisia is among the developing countries that have taken initiatives to develop renewable energy and strengthen energy efficiency. Moreover, it has considerable potential, especially in the field of wind and solar energy. However, the country is still dependent on fossil fuel energy. In this context, the transition to renewable energy is considered one of the possible solutions to reduce energy dependence and strengthen the economy in general. Therefore, the aim of this research study is to evaluate the role of renewable energy in shaping the energy transition in Tunisia in order to qualify the possibilities of energy transition. Accordingly, we investigate the potential for substitution between the following factors and fuels: Capital, labor, renewable, and non-renewable energy in Tunisia using a translog production function approach. Due to the multicollinearity of the model, the ridge regression method is used to estimate the parameters of the function. The obtained results showed that the possibility of substitution between inputs, especially between renewable and non-renewable energy, can replace fossil fuels with clean energy consumption. Moreover, to maximize the potential of renewable energy in Tunisia, this study recommends that policy makers should take more reliable measures to reflect the exact price of energy through price regulation measures, encourage investment in research and development, and introduce carbon taxes that could accelerate this transition., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

There are growing concerns about environmental degradation and economic expansions in West Africa. Although there are several growth-environmental studies in Africa, there is limited empirical research exploring West African countries' potential of benefiting from the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, with the few studies on this subject reporting diverse results based on selected West African countries. To fill this gap, this study explored the relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation within the EKC framework using 16 West African countries sub-grouped into low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) between 1990 and 2018. This study implemented second-generation panel econometric estimators that are robust to cross-sectional dependent and parameter heterogeneity. The empirical results revealed that the data is cross-sectionally dependent, heterogeneous, integrated of order one, 1(1), and cointegrated. Controlling for other environmental determinants, panel estimates from the Augmented Meant Group and Common Correlated Effect Mean Group estimators revealed that economic growth accelerates environmental degradation in West African countries, with a greater impact on LMICs, followed by LICs in West Africa. The results also showed that West African countries especially LMICs could benefit from the EKC hypothesis. On the other hand, growth-environmental degradation among LICs in West Africa shows a monotonous increasing relationship. We found strong evidence to support for feedback hypothesis between economic growth and environmental degradation in LMICs, LICs, and West Africa as a whole. Based on the findings, policy recommendations that consider both LMICs and LICs and West Africa as a whole were offered to policymakers., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The current research investigates the linear and non-linear effects of democracy and income levels on carbon dioxide emissions for 72 countries from 1993 to 2019. Considering the possibility that the impact of independent variables on carbon dioxide emissions may vary throughout the distribution of carbon dioxide emissions, the correlations between the variables are studied by the panel quantile regression method. The findings confirm the EKC hypothesis in countries having low and medium emissions and demonstrate an inverted U-shaped correlation between GDP and carbon dioxide emissions. In low- and medium-emission countries, a higher democracy level contributes to environmental quality, while it leads to increased carbon dioxide emissions in high-emission countries. On the contrary, it is remarkable that democracy causes a delay in the turning point of the EKC in countries with low and medium emissions. Furthermore, the results demonstrate an EKC correlation between democracy level and carbon dioxide emissions in countries with low and medium emissions. However, the correlation between democracy level and carbon dioxide emissions, which is inverted U-shaped in low- and medium-emission countries, turns into a U-shaped correlation in high-emission countries. These findings emphasize the necessity of considering the changing impact of democracy according to the emission structure of countries in policymaking., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Motivated by the growing levelof informal economy in emerging economies, this study examines the role of the informal economy in the ecological footprint for the case of Africa. The relationship between official economy, trade openness, governance indicator, financial development, and urbanization on ecological footprint is also investigated. Applying data from 1991 to 2017, this empiric utilizes panel estimation procedures to account for cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity in panel data. The results establish the presence of cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity across countries in Africa. Furthermore, long-run cointegration is confirmed using Westerlund panel cointegration. Driscoll-Kraay's (DK) estimation technique shows that informal economy, official economy, governance, financial development, and urbanization have significant positive impacts on ecological footprint, implying that they contribute to environmental degradation. However, trade openness has a negative and significant effect on ecological footprint, improving environmental quality. Similarly, the Dumitrescu-Hurlin (DH) Granger causality test reveals a two-way relationship between the informal economy and ecological footprint and formal economy and ecological footprint. However, the study finds a one-way connection from urbanization and financial development to ecological footprint and from ecological footprint to governance indicators and trade openness. The implications of the findings for a sustainable environment are discussed., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study explores the relationship between economic growth and carbon dioxide and the moderating effect of institutional quality in Nigeria from 1990 to 2020, by employing long-run and short-run dynamic ARDL regression, quartile regression and Granger causality test for the estimation. Utilizing CO 2 per capita emissions; GDP per capita, a proxy for economic growth; capital stock (CAPSTK), proxy for capital investment in Nigeria and control of corruption and regulatory quality (COC and RGQ) which represent the effective environmental regulations and laws put in place for the control and prevention of environmental degradation, the study found a significant cointegration between CO 2 emissions and economic growth (lnGDP) in Nigeria. Furthermore, an N-shaped nexus exists between CO 2 emissions and economic growth in the long-run and short-run instead of the inverted U-shape curve postulated by the EKC hypothesis. This was confirmed by both ARDL and quartile regression results. Similarly, InCAPSTK contributed significantly to the growth of CO 2 emissions in Nigeria both in the long run and short run; although, the short run did so at 10% significant level. Contrary to expectations, control of corruption (COC) contributes significantly to CO 2 emissions in the long run, but when it interacts with income (InGDP [Formula: see text] COC), it significantly contributes to the reduction of CO 2 emissions. More so, regulatory quality (RGQ) had no significant impact on CO 2 emissions in Nigeria either in the long run or short run, even when it interacts with InGDP. This finding is further supported by the quartile regression outcomes and Granger causality. The study therefore concludes that CO 2 emissions-economic growth nexus in Nigeria assumes an N-shape both in the long run and short run. Based on the results, the study recommends that Government should pursue industrialisation policy with sophisticated method of production that will bring about rapid economic progress and at the same time support environmental sustainability., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The paper's main aim is to forecast the carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in the USA and its related components, analysing the contributions of each of those components to CO 2 total volume. The empirical ground is a mix of non-linear tools, combining the artificial neural network (ANN) parametric method with a vector autoregressive (VAR) estimator. ANN includes 1 layer and 20 neurons, forecasting being based on the economic growth and net trade effects doubled by different types of renewable energy consumption. The accuracy of estimations for 14 targeted categories of CO 2 emissions is ensured by 4360 observations, with 10 types of inputs over 1984M01-2020M04. ANN seems to offer superior forecasting accuracy compared with the widely used autoregressive methods, such as VAR model, but seems to be weak in capturing the output 'spike' forms. The main findings show that, although economic growth and net trade have an important contribution to the targeted outputs, the more prominent ones are wind, solar and total biomass energy consumption. Therefore, the CO 2 emissions can be better controlled through non-polluting capacities, in parallel with the use of wind, solar and total biomass energies. The tool excellently predicts the CO 2 emissions during pandemic crises being a good instrument in policy decisions. Modest contributions to CO 2 prediction seem to have energy consumption generated by waste, hydroelectric power and renewable geothermal systems. This underlines an unclear current status given their collateral effects in environmental damages and high investment costs. The paper contributes to the literature in several ways. It is one of the first works focused on CO 2 emissions forecasting in the USA based on a mixed approach by ANN and VAR types, considering an extended pallet of inputs to predict the volume of total CO 2 emissions but also its components. As a novelty, the inputs combine both economic and environmental determinants. Not at least, the estimations are performed based on a large span, with monthly frequency., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In the contemporary era, it is evident that consumption-based carbon emissions (CCO2e), adjusted for international trade, are a more accurate and robust measure of environmental pollution than production-based emissions. Therefore, many studies have focused on exploring the determinants of CCO2e; however, the literature could not yet discern environment-related R&D budget (ERRD) and political risk index (PRI) as a new driver. To fill this gap, the current paper aims to divulge the dynamic effects of ERRD and PRI on CCO2e while taking imports, exports, and GDP as control regressors. To do so, the G7 nations' data from 1990 to 2020 is utilized, and several advanced econometric tests and techniques are deployed to tackle the advanced issues (i.e., cross-section dependence, heterogeneity, and endogeneity) in econometrics. The CS-ARDL estimates suggest that PRI and ERRD significantly lessen the environmental quality by disrupting the detrimental effects of CCO2e. Likewise, the rise in exports possesses a negative association with the ratio of CCO2e. However, CCO2e significantly tends to surge on account of an increase in GDP and imports. GDP squared exhibits the negative link with CCO2e, confirming the EKC hypothesis in G7 nations. Besides, the AMG technique and causality test validate the robustness of our findings. In addition, the policies related to CCO2e by authorities will take approximately more than a year to absorb their effects., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study aims at investigating the dynamics of environmental degradation by focusing on the financial development-CO 2 emissions link. In this purpose, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, trade openness and urbanization are integrated into the CO 2 emissions model as other explanatory variables. In this study, 18 upper-middle-income countries with the highest growth rate in the world are examined for the period 1990-2018 by AMG method, which considers the cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity. In addition, the causal linkages between variables are explored by Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel bootstrap causality technique. As a result of the study, it is found that financial development and renewable energy consumption reduce CO 2 emissions. In addition, it is determined that economic growth, urbanization, and trade openness deteriorate the environmental quality. As a result of causality analysis, while one-way is found from renewable energy consumption to CO 2 emissions, a bidirectional causality is observed between financial development and CO 2 emissions. Empirical findings provide several policy suggestions that decrease CO 2 emissions in these countries., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Today, as a result of the developments and widespread use of information and communication technologies, the weight of online shopping in the economy has increased. The environmental impacts of this new order, which is an important part of electronic finance, are discussed. In this study, the effect of electronic finance, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and urbanization on emissions in EU member countries is examined using the panel vector autoregression (PVAR) approach for the period from 2005 to 2018. The main results suggest that e-finance has a positive and statistically significant effect on CO 2 emissions. However, the renewable energy consumption-increasing effect of e-finance is greater than its emission-reducing effect. Moreover, renewable energy consumption has a statistically insignificant effect on emissions. Therefore, the contribution of e-finance on environmental quality weakens. The requirement for EU member countries to prioritize the use of environmentally friendly energy to benefit from the environmental contribution of e-finance in the most optimal way is stated as the main policy implication of this study., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Climate change currently observed and expected in the future is associated with risks to security and sustainable development and natural and irreversible consequences. To minimize these risks, it is necessary to adapt the public administration, economic sectors, and regional infrastructure to the changing climate conditions. This paper discovers the links between CO 2 emissions and their key determinants such as economic growth, energy consumption, population, trade openness, and financial development including the period from 1990 to 2020 to test the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by using ARDL bound test for the Russian Federation. Findings reveal that energy consumption and population have a positive impact on CO 2 emissions, while economic growth, financial development, and trade openness have been found to decrease CO 2 emissions in the long term. The results of this paper show that there is a "U"-shaped relationship between CO 2 emissions and economic growth in the Russian Federation. This shows that EKC is valid up to a certain income level in the Russian Federation, and when this income level is exceeded, a positive relationship will begin between economic growth and environmental degradation. As a policy implementation, policymakers must implement clean energy technology policies to achieve the 2060 net zero carbon target. Policies such as fossil-based energy use and reducing energy intensity should be adopted., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The postmodernism stance critiques the current discourse of modern consumption-based societies. These societies legitimize their embedded beliefs and actions based on their lifestyle reflected through their consumption patterns. Their consumption patterns relate to carbon footprints that are yet to be explored in the current body of knowledge at the macro level. The legitimacy of their lifestyle and consumption patterns rely on their conscious efforts in reducing carbon footprints. This study uses the environmental Kuznets curve model and explores the impact of household lifestyle and household consumption patterns on CO 2 emissions across different cultures and societies worldwide. 49 countries were taken to assess how different cultures define consumption patterns related to CO 2 emission. The results showed that the curvilinear relationship between consumption and CO 2 depends on the country's national cultural orientation., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

While global warming and climate change associated with increasing carbon dioxide are widely seen to be one of the most serious worldwide dangers to population health, little is known regarding "how" country alters the linkage between increasing CO2 emissions and population health outcomes. Current literature on the health effects of CO2 emissions recommends various factors that may establish a more robust link, including health expenditure and research and development. Therefore, the purpose of this inquiry is to examine the effectiveness of health expenditure and R&D in improving health outcomes through reducing CO2 emissions. Using data for Saudi Arabia over the period 2000-2018, the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) technique shows that (i) health and R&D expenditures decrease infant mortality and increase life expectancy; (ii) health and R&D expenditures reduce CO2 emissions in all the estimated models; (iii) health and R&D expenditures can improve health outcomes through reducing CO2 emissions; and (iv) health and R&D expenditures have both direct and indirect effect on health outcomes. Policy implications and limitations are also discussed., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is one of the most dynamic African sub-regional organizations in several areas, such as economic integration and environmental conservation. On the other hand, it is also one of the sub-regions with the largest size of the shadow economy in the world. This article empirically explores the impact of the shadow economy on economic growth and CO 2 emissions in ECOWAS countries. Using system generalized method of moment (SGMM) and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimators on annual data from 14 ECOWAS countries over the period 1991-2016, the results suggest that the shadow economy decreases economic growth and CO 2 emissions. However, the impact of the shadow economy on economic growth is more significant and higher than that on CO 2 emissions. The results also indicate that industrialization and urbanization tend to increase economic growth and CO 2 emissions in these countries., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The issue of examining the stationarity of per capita energy consumption (PCEC) series is central in energy literature. Most of the existing studies examine this issue by employing unit root tests based on the time domain only providing a partial picture of the problem at hand due to not including the information related to the frequency domain. In contrast to existing studies, the present study uses a recently projected wavelet-based unit root testing scheme-Fourier wavelet KSS (FWKSS) introduced by Aydin and Pata. Energy 207:118245 (2020) which has several advantages over the existing wavelet unit root tests such as the ones proposed by Fan and Gençay (2010). Specifically, the FWKSS takes care of any possible smooth structural break in the data series under examination. This study re-examines the stationarity of PCEC across the globe covering for the first time a total of 133 countries and including all income groups constituting 49 high-, 76 middle- and 8 low-income countries. The selection of countries is made based on the availability of at least 25 years of annual time series data. The empirical results based on latest available data reveal that among 133 chosen countries, 67 countries are found to have non-stationary PCEC including 20 high-, 43 middle- and 4 low-income countries while the remaining 66 countries are found to have stationary PCEC including 29 high-, 33 middle- and 4 low-income countries. PCEC is found to be stationary in 79 of them including 35 high-, 40 middle- and 4 low-income countries. Some relevant policy implications are discussed as well., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study estimated paper and paperboard demand, pulpwood demand, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from production of paper and paperboard through 2050 in ten Asian countries. Under scenarios of varying population, gross domestic product (GDP), and per capita paper and paperboard demand, we analyzed the relationship between economic growth and consumption of paper and paperboard. We also evaluated options to reduce CO2 emissions through increased use of black liquor, waste paper pulping, and wood chemical pulping, as well as improvements in pulp, paper, and paperboard production technology. The quadratic curve model (inverted U) for per capita consumption of paper and paperboard against per capita GDP resulted in significant regression coefficients and higher adjusted R2 values than linear and logarithmic curve models for all uses of paper and paperboard. The estimated paper and paperboard demand in the ten countries in 2050 ranged from 112% (328%) to 156% (454%) of total 2005 consumption for the world (for the ten Asian countries). Of this estimated paper and paperboard demand, China accounted for about 50% and India 20%. The estimated pulpwood demand in these ten countries in 2050 ranged from 13% (48%) to 21% (84%) of global (ten country) 2005 wood supply potential. The introduction or increase of the use of black liquor, waste paper pulping, the combination of wood chemical pulping and black liquor, and technological improvements produced CO2 reductions of 24%, 5%, 32%, and 25%, respectively, compared to 2050 emission levels in the no-measure (unadjusted) option, assuming sustainable forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent commentary by Santhosh and Ravindran on our paper (Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2014, 39:10,606) demonstrated that the interaction between H 2 and MXene (Sc 2 C and Ti 2 C) phases are not Kubas-type and should be of weak physisorption, and thus made a conclusion that 2D Sc 2 C and Ti 2 C are not suitable for practical hydrogen storage applications. In this responses, we recalculated hydrogen adsorption on 2D Sc 2 C and Ti 2 C by using different exchange-correlation functionals. And based on the calculated results, bare MXenes (especially the Ti 2 C) are suitable as hydrogen storage materials at temperatures of several tens degrees lower than room temperature. And the hydrogen adsorptions on the MXenes terminated with oxygen group were also investigated. Among the Ti 2 C, Sc 2 C and their oxygen-functional counterparts, the binding energy of H 2 on Sc 2 CO 2 surface is the closest to the ideal range of 0.16–0.42 eV/H 2 at ambient conditions, and thus the Sc 2 C with oxygen group is expected to be more suitable as hydrogen storage materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Swedish pulp and paper industry accounts for half of industrial final energy use in Sweden and 2.3 % in EU-27. On the basis of a disaggregated set of physical production data, a Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index decomposition method is applied to disentangle the influence from activity, structure and energy efficiency improvement (EEI) on its fuel, electricity and primary energy use. An extended analysis tracks the fossil energy use and carbon dioxide (CO) emissions to discern past and present developments of industrial decarbonisation. In 1984-2011, the total production output increased by 49 %, whereas growth in primary energy use was limited to 26 %. Compared with an activity-based scenario, 50 PJ of primary energy use has been avoided through EEI and 6 PJ through structural change. The production has become oriented towards more electricity-intensive but less fuel-intensive segments. The electricity use EEI was negligible until year 2000 but sizeable thereafter as it started to outpace the counteracting impact from structural change. Results are consistent with previous bottom-up evaluations, and the policy context is further elaborated in a discussion about the role of relevant energy and climate policies in facilitating the enhanced EEI observed over the last decade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents an unconventional use of capacitively coupled contactless conductivity detector (C4D) for detection of gas absorption by moist paper with potential application for chemical analysis. To be suitable for measuring conductivity of moist paper absorbent, the C4D sensor was therefore designed in planar configuration. A layer of dry filter paper, only 20 mm × 25 mm in size, was placed on the C4D sensor and the device installed inside a specifically designed vaporization chamber. A vial (16 mm i.d., 8 mm high) containing a 150-μL solution of sodium bicarbonate was placed alongside. The filter paper was loaded with 110 μL of deionized water through an injection hole in the cover lid. A 100-μL aliquot of 2 M hydrochloric acid solution was directly dispensed into the vial through a second hole in the lid to generate CO 2 gas from the bicarbonate solution. It was observed that the C4D sensor gave real-time response that corresponded to the absorption of the gas and subsequent production of H+ and HCO 3 − in the moist paper. The monitored signal reached a constant value at 160 s after the addition of the acid. Chemistry of the absorption process and equivalent circuit for the C4D are proposed. Direct measurement of cement powder was chosen to demonstrate the potential use of this device for quantifying the CaCO 3 content of the cement. The calibration curve for 0.5–3 mg CaCO 3 was linear for signals recorded at 160 s: V dc = (0.172 ± 0.005) · (mg CaCO 3) + (0.016 ± 0.009), with coefficient of determination of 0.9965. Linear calibrations were also observed when the signals were monitored at various time less than 160 s. The limit of quantitation (3 SD of intercept/slope) was 0.17 mg CaCO 3. The method provided acceptable precision with %RSD of 4.6 (2 mg CaCO 3 , n = 10). Image 1 • Unconventional use of planar contactless conductivity detector is presented. • Real-time in-situ detection of CO 2 absorption by moist paper was demonstrated. • The absorption chemistry by moist paper and C4D equivalent circuit are proposed. • Potential application in direct measurement of cement powder is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Black liquor gasification was coupled with calcium looping. • Calcium looping for CO 2 capture and H 2 production was compared. • CO 2 capture route (39 €/t) was less expensive than H 2 production route (48.8 €/t). • CO 2 avoided cost was highly dependent on capital cost of black liquor gasification. • Export of H 2 had the lowest CO 2 avoided cost among black liquor gasification cases. Although considered one of the major energy-intensive industries (EIIs), the pulp and paper industry has also the potential for energy production from an industrial waste, black liquor. This study proposes black liquor gasification (BLG) coupled with calcium looping (CaL) as a CO 2 capture route for the pulp and paper industry. BLG with H 2 production (BLG-CaL-H 2), BLG with gas turbine combined cycle (BLG-CaL-GT) or with solid oxide fuel cell (BLG-CaL-SOFC) were considered. The dependence of carbon capture and storage (CCS) cost on the natural gas, limestone, electricity imported and H 2 sale prices aside the expenditures related with BLG-CaL were evaluated. The CCS route, based on CaL retrofitted to the pulp and paper plant, was found to have a lower cost of CO 2 avoided (39.0 €/tCO 2) when compared with BLG-CaL (48.8–57.1 €/tCO 2). Between the BLG-CaL scenarios, BLG-CaL-H 2 presented the lowest cost of CO 2 avoided (48.8 €/tCO 2) but the highest energy penalty. Based on the thermodynamic performance, it was shown that CaL retrofit and BLG-CaL-SOFC presented the best overall performance, turning the electricity importer reference plant into electricity exporter. The economic sensitivity showed that the capital requirement of BLG-CaL has a strong effect on the cost of CO 2 avoided for all alternatives. The H 2 production is also strongly affected by the H 2 sale price while BLG-CaL-SOFC and BLG-CaL-GT are strongly dependent on natural gas price. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, a carbon emissions trading market will be launched nationwide by the China government. Calculating the enterprise carbon emissions is an important prerequisite and basis for trading. This paper discussed types of greenhouse gases, calculation boundaries and methods, energy consumption, carbon emissions, and intensity of a representative integrated pulp and paper mill in China based on China Guidance and Greenhouse Gas Protocol Tools. The results showed that there were 435,000 tonnes (t) of CO2 emissions from that mill in 2014 that did not contain emissions of biomass energy, which was 8 times higher than that of fossil energy. The pulp carbon intensity based on the mill was 0.230 t CO2/Adt, which accounted for 7.50% to 57.4% in other pulps' based on the product. Intensity based on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 1.090 t CO2e/1000 USD and accounted for 56.8% intensity in the China paper industry. The intensity based on sales accounted for 52.6% in the firstclass enterprise in the developed country. It also showed that intensity was influenced by the species of raw material, energy, and products, which provided the mill with measures for energy saving and emissions reduction to obtain the redundant carbon emissions in the trading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combustion of biomass and waste paper sludge in a fluidized bed is ecologically profitable. However, a large amount of by-product with high hydraulic reactivity is produced and is considered as wastes. Most of the time the waste paper fly ash (WPFA) goes to landfills, therefore new utilization methods are necessary. In some countries, the high content of metallic and metalloids trace elements (MMTE) in WPFA, more specifically Barium (Ba) and Lead (Pb) makes its valorization difficult. In this paper, the Lightweight Aggregates (LWA) was produced from WPFA by granulating with water in high-intensity granulator. Since WPFA is rich in CaO, the addition of water promotes rapid setting and hydration compared to other types of ash. In this study, different granulation parameters were investigated, such as the rotation modes between the steel pan and the impeller, the rotation speed of the steel pan, the granulation time, in order to improve the mass percentage of the targeted LWA (2–16 mm). In order to evolve the immobilization potential of Ba and Pb, a carbonation process was performed, exposing the manufactured LWA to pure carbon dioxide (CO 2) gas at laboratory scale. The physical, morphological, thermal and mechanical characterizations were performed on LWA for use in mortars, concretes or civil engineering constructions. Results have demonstrated the influence of the rotation mode between the steel pan and the on the distribution of WPFA inside the steel pan and the change in the growth rate of the granules can be observed. Increased density and improved compressive strength with low porosity and water absorption were also found in LWA after carbonation. This was due to the occurrence of both a carbonation reaction and a hydration reaction. Furthermore, the results of thermogravimetry and SEM-EDS confirmed the formation of hydrated phases (ettringite, carboaluminates), also the formation of calcite in the pores and the external surface of the LWA. Regarding environmental aspects, the results have revealed that Ba and Pb were well immobilized in the solid matrix after carbonation. [Display omitted] • LWA was manufactured from WPA without any agglomerating agents. • The physical-chemical properties of LWA were improved after carbonation. • The resulted LWA meet the requirements of NF EN -13,055-1. • The microstructure of LWA was studied before and after carbonation. • Influence of time, mode and rotation speed on the size of the manufactured LWA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is hinged on analyzing factors such as agriculture and globalization (de jure trade and financial) that threaten a sustainable environment using two proxies of ecological footprint: carbon and noncarbon ecological footprint in the Philippines while controlling for the influence of fossil to GDP, economic growth, urban population, and financial development using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework. The result provides evidence of long-run stable state among the variables. The result validates inverted U-shaped pattern of EKC involving relationship between agricultural development and ecological footprint for the Philippines indicating that initially, ecological footprint increases as the agriculture develops and then declines as the agriculture matures to generate efficiency and low carbon. In addition, this study explores elasticities of the variables using ARDL, FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR procedure and found that de jure financial globalization exerts positive influence on ecological footprint in the long run. De jure trade globalization is found to be negative and significant in the long run. It is also found that agricultural level operates below the threshold level required to maximize the growth benefits of agricultural system towards mitigating environmental sustainability. Further empirical result shows a positive relationship between economic growth, fossil fuel, urban-population growth, and ecological footprint, and negative insignificant relationship between credit to private sector and ecological footprint. The government should optimize the use of agricultural land through well-articulated economic integration strategy fashioned to pave way for cleaner and low-carbon technologies sources like solar, geothermal, biomass, biogas, tidal power, photovoltaic, and wind energy in the agricultural production to avoid further deterioration of the environment., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study aims to investigate the impact of environmental technological innovations and environmental policy stringency on green economic growth in China. The empirical analysis of the study is based on the ARDL model. Findings confirm that environmental technology positively impacts green economic growth in the short and long run. In the robust model, the estimates of all technologies appeared to be significantly positive in the short and long run. Conversely, the estimated coefficients of environmental policy stringency, in the basic and robust model, have only negatively impacted the green economic growth in China in the short run. In the long run, the environmental policy stringency has not shown any significant impact on green economic growth in China in the basic and robust model. China needs to increase environmental technology and environmental policy stringency for achieving green growth and sustainability targets., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Despite the considerable contributions of remittances to households and economic advancements, their environmental implications have received little attention in empirical research. This study was, therefore, conducted to help fill that gap, using Ghana as an evidence. In achieving the above goal, robust econometric methods that control for endogeneity, heteroscedasticity and serial correlation among others, were engaged for the analysis. From the results, the studied variables were first-differenced stationary and cointegrated in the long run. The elasticities of the predictors were explored via the FMOLS, DOLS and CCR estimators, and from the results, remittance inflows worsened the ecological quality in Ghana through high CO 2 emissions. Also, population growth and energy utilization were not friendly to the country's environment; however, technological innovations improved environmental quality in the nation via low CO 2 effusions. The VECM was employed to examine the path of causalities amidst the series, and from the results, there were bidirectional causalities between remittance inflows and CO 2 emissions and between population growth and CO 2 emanations. Also, a causation from energy utilization to CO 2 effluents was discovered; however, there was no causality between technological innovations and CO 2 exudates in the country. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that, authorities should enact regulations to control the activities of polluting industries that are being financed by remittances. Also, households and individuals should minimize their use of remittances to finance carbon-intensive items, like automobiles and air-conditioners among others, that add to environmental pollution in the country., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa are characteristically poor and Nigeria is no exception. Despite the recorded decline in infant and under five mortality rates in Nigeria, they still remain relatively high showing a poor status of the population's health. Carbon dioxide emission continues to fluctuate at high levels probably due to the increasing use of non renewable energy forms for economic activities mostly requiring energy consumption. This study examines the health consequences of environmental quality due to carbon dioxide emission in Nigeria for the period 1980 to 2016. Using two health outcome measures and decomposing carbon dioxide emission by sector and type of fuel consumed, a bound cointegration approach and an autoregressive distributed lag model were also employed. The results and a sensitivity analysis revealed that aggregate carbon dioxide emission significantly explained both infant mortality and under five mortality rates. However, when disaggregated, carbon dioxide emission from solid fuel had the greatest contribution to poor health outcomes., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Understanding the factors affecting R&D trends in the energy sector has a key role in overcoming environmental concerns such as combating climate change, as well as other economic and political problems related to energy. Based on such concerns, this study aims to analyze fundamental factors that determine the energy R&D trends of 29 International Energy Agency (IEA) countries. The data set, consisting of annual indicators for the period 1990-2015, is analyzed with the Driscoll-Kraay panel data estimator. Empirical findings for overall sample show that efficiency, import dependency, and the share of renewable energy use are positively related with R&D expenditure in energy sector. CO 2 intensity is found to be statistically insignificant. When countries are grouped considering their energy composition structures, the dynamics of energy R&D expenditures differ between groups. In overall evaluation, our findings illustrate efficiency and dependency to have greater priority compared to environmental dynamics on energy R&D expenditures for IEA countries during the period., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

To sustain global warming below 2 °C, carbon dioxide emission mitigation has become an extensive worldwide priority. This paper proposes a comprehensive assessment by evaluating the effects of technology transfer, human capital, and renewable energy on carbon dioxide emissions among seven different regions along with the Belt and Road Initiatives from 2008 to 2018. Based on econometric estimations, it is found that human capital, renewable energy, and technology transfer show a negative but significant association with carbon dioxide emissions, indicating that an increase in human capital, renewable energy, and technology transfer can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the Belt and Road countries. On the other hand, we found a positive and significant relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, and foreign direct investment (FDI), indicating that economic growth and foreign direct investment increase carbon emissions. The findings of this study reveal that the adaptation of technology transfer, renewable energy consumption, and human capital are key factors in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the Belt and Road counties. Our findings provide evidence of the social advantages of investing in advanced human capital, renewable energy, and technology transfer suggesting a promising route for devoting climate change without impeding economic growth., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Numerous explorations have been conducted on the determinants of Ghana's environmental quality. However, to the best of my knowledge, there has been no research on the connection between financial inclusion and environmental sustainability in the country. This study was therefore conducted to help fill that gap. In attaining the aforestated goal, econometric techniques that yield valid and reliable outcomes were engaged. From the results, all the series were first differenced stationary and cointegrated in the long run. The DARDL estimator with the support of the conventional ARDL estimator was adopted to explore the marginal effects of the predictors on the explained variable, and from the results, financial inclusion worsened environmental sustainability in the nation via high carbon emissions. Also, foreign direct investments degraded the country's ecological quality validating the pollution haven hypothesis. Finally, trade openness, population growth, and energy consumption were detrimental to environmental sustainability in the nation. On the causal directions amidst the series, unidirectional causalities from financial inclusion and trade openness to carbon effusions were disclosed. Also, feedback causalities between foreign direct investments and carbon emissions; between population growth and carbon effluents; and between energy consumption and carbon exudates were unfolded. The study recommended among others that, financial establishments should not fund the production of carbon-intensive goods, but those that are friendly to the environment. The government can also help to improve environmental sustainability by establishing regulations to mandate financial entities to engage in eco-friendly activities., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is the most prevalent greenhouse gas that triggers climate change, which in turn leads to catastrophic effects on trade, business, human health, and other areas. Understanding the characteristics and tendency of CO 2 emissions will improve policy making and mitigation strategies. Understanding the linearity or nonlinearity and convergence or divergence of CO 2 emissions is essential for selecting appropriate modeling techniques and for designing reliable policies. Therefore, this paper investigates the nonlinearity and nonlinear convergence of CO 2 emissions among the world's top 20 highest emitting countries, which account for 80% of the world's total emissions. To check the nonlinearity of CO 2 emissions, the McLeod-Li nonlinearity test, the Terasvirta nonlinearity test, and the Brock-Dechert-Scheinkman-LeBaron nonlinearity test are employed. The convergence or divergence of CO 2 emissions is checked by using the Kilic nonlinear unit root test, the Hu and Chen nonlinear unit root test, and the Park and Shintani nonlinear unit root test. The findings revealed that the CO 2 emissions process in all the 20 countries is nonlinear; 17 countries exhibit convergence in CO 2 emissions while the other 3 countries diverged from 1960 to 2018. Based on the results, the nonlinear nature of CO 2 emissions requires special attention from scholars when selecting estimation techniques for CO 2 emissions. For countries with convergence, emissions trends can be used to forecast future values of CO 2 emissions. Moreover, strong policy actions are required to achieve convergence in the countries with divergence., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Oil and gas are key energy sources in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. The present study examines the asymmetrical environmental effects of these energy sources and also tests the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) from 1975 to 2019. In the long run, the EKC is corroborated in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. But the EKC is not validated in the GCC Panel. Increasing oil consumption raises carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions in all investigated GCC countries, and decreasing oil consumption reduces CO 2 emissions in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The effect of oil consumption is found asymmetrical in Qatar and symmetrical in the rest of GCC countries. Increasing natural gas consumption (NGC) carries a positive effect in all investigated GCC countries, and decreasing NGC reduces emissions in Oman, Qatar, and the UAE. Moreover, NGC's effects are asymmetrically in all GCC countries except Qatar. In the panel estimates, both increasing and decreasing oil and NGC have positive effects on CO 2 emissions. The long-run effect of oil consumption on CO 2 emissions is larger than the effect of NGC in most GCC economies and panel results. In the short run, increasing and decreasing oil consumption and NGC have a positive effect on emissions in all investigated economies except Saudi Arabia. In the long run, coefficients of decreasing oil consumption are found significantly greater than coefficients of increasing NGC in Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the whole GCC. This finding corroborates that increasing CO 2 emissions with increasing NGC is lower than decreasing CO 2 emissions with decreasing oil consumption. Hence, we recommend these countries switch from oil consumption to NGC to reduce overall CO 2 emissions., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

One of the major problems the world is currently facing is climate change. This is due to the use of fossil fuel combustion, which increases the presence of CO 2 emissions and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere in several countries of the world, which Nigeria is not exempted from. Against this background, this study examines the impacts of globalization, real income, urbanization, and energy consumption on environmental degradation; and proffer way forward to achieving environmental sustainability targets in Nigeria, using quarterly frequency time series data over a period 1971-2018. To achieve our study objectives, this study makes use of quantile-quantile (Q-Q) approach, developed by Sim and Zhou J Bank Financ 55:1-8, (2015). This approach groups together nonparametric estimation and quantile regression. Empirical results show that, in all quantiles, globalization, real income, urbanization, and energy consumption impact positively on environmental degradation. Thus, we are of the opinion that for the nation to achieve any meaningful environmental sustainability targets, (i) it must shift from economic activities that are dependent and driven by non-renewable energy sources; (ii) enact environmental laws and regulations that prevent indigenous and multinationals firms from using non-renewable energy sources in production activities; (iii) discourage rural-urban migration by enacting policies that would improve life in the rural areas, such as diverting investment of indigenous and multinational companies to be situated in the rural areas; and lastly, (iv) learn from jurisdictional experiences that have successfully replaces non-renewable energy sources with renewable ones for an overall economic growth and environmental sustainability targets for both the immediate and future generations., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

We analyse how financial development and renewable energy consumption are linked in the selected countries of South Asia using data covering from 1990 to 2018. On the indication of cross-sectional dependency among the variables of the models, we apply second-generation panel unit root tests and cointegration tests to check stationarity properties and long-run cointegrating relationships. We find that variables are stationary at the first difference, and long-run cointegration exists. By applying robust heterogeneous and cross-section augmented dynamic estimators, we find that growth in GDP increases renewable energy consumption by about 0.50-1.56%; however, it reduces by 0.01-0.03% after particular thresholds. Furthermore, on average, an increase in financial development reduces the propensity of renewable energy consumption by 0.07-0.15% in the long-run. On the other hand, panel causality results show unidirectional relationships from GDP to financial development and from financial development to renewable energy consumption but not vice versa. We suggest that the selected countries revisit and restructure the renewable energy policy and focus on institutional reforms to strengthen renewable energy development in the upcoming years., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Many countries are trying to achieve carbon neutrality targets by using environment-friendly technology and green growth. Thus, this analysis effort to identify the key role of green growth in improving the environmental quality. This study investigates the impact of green growth, income, environmental taxes, environment-friendly technology, renewable energy, and financial development in the context of 12 Asian economies over the period of 1990 to 2018. This study used the method of cross-section - augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) to find out the impact of green growth and growth (GDP) on environment quality with some plausible variables under the scheme of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). The study employed the method of CS-ARDL and for robustness the augmented mean group (AMG) method to find out the impact of green growth and GDP growth on environment quality with some plausible variables under the scheme of EKC. The results of CS-ARDL concluded that CO 2 is significantly affected by GDP growth, green growth, and technological change in the context of Asian economies. The GDP square is inversely and the GDP growth is positively related to the CO 2 , indicating the presence of inverted U-shaped EKC in this region. But the inverse relationship between green growth and green growth square and concave EKC is observed in Asian countries. The study used the Dumitrescu and Hurlin panel test to gauge the causality between the variables. This study suggested that policymakers should focus on transforming the country's energy system in ways that will reduce energy-related CO 2 emissions faster than previously expected., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In recent years, biomass energy tends to be one of the important sources of renewable energy in the world. The main objective of current research is to evaluate the impact of biomass energy on the economic growth of NEXT-11 economies. The data used in "the study is based on panel data of NEXT-11 covering the period 1990 to 2019. The included variables are GDP, biomass energy (BE) school enrollment gross ratio (SEGR; trade openness (TO; population growth (PG; and CO2 emission (CO2)." For estimation, this study applied the fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) approaches. The results of FMOLS and DOLS analysis indicate a statistically significant and positive relationship among all the variables in our sample of nations. According to the findings, an increase in biomass energy use tends to positively affect economic growth. To meet the challenge of global warming, these countries need to increase their technical development and inventions as well as they need to improve biomass energy use., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

In this study, we want to test the impact of financial inclusion on the economic growth and the environmental quality of OBOR economies. We have selected four different proxies of financial inclusion, two from the perspective of the supply side and two from the perspective of the demand side. For empirical analysis, we have applied 2SLS and GMM methods. In the economic growth model, among the variables of financial inclusion, only the variable of ATMS is positively significant in the 2SLS approach; however, when we apply the GMM approach, two variables, i.e., ATMS and branches, are positively significant implying that supply-side financial inclusion is vital for economic growth in OBOR countries. On the other side, the variables of financial inclusion, whether supply side or demand side, exerted a positive impact on the CO2 emissions irrespective of the estimation techniques, i.e., 2SLS and GMM. These findings imply that financial inclusion, in general, causes CO2 emissions to rise., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study quantifies the impact of financial inclusion and export diversification in attaining the target of green growth for SAARC economies during the period 2000 to 2019. For the analysis purpose, this study employed second-generation econometric techniques that deal with heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence issues. To this end, CUP-FM and CUP-BC are used to investigate the long-run dynamic equilibrium relationship among the variables of interest. The outcomes show that financial inclusion and institutional quality are eco-friendly variables and play a vital role in attaining green growth. In contrast, export diversification and FDI are inversely related with green growth in SAARC economies. Furthermore, a unidirectional causality running from financial inclusion to green growth and financial inclusion to export diversification is observed. On the basis of investigated outcomes, this research suggests essential policy recommendations to attain green growth., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Recognizing the factors responsible for the gradual increase in greenhouse gas [e.g. carbon dioxide (CO 2 )] emissions is crucial to reduce the detrimental consequences on environmental sustainability and human life. Accordingly, spotting the sectors which contribute the most to CO 2 emissions and dampen economic growth have become one of the major concerns for policymakers around the globe. Against this background, this paper examines the nexus between economic growth and CO 2 emissions in three Baltic countries namely Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Thus, the study basically checks the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis by taking into account the role of energy consumption and financial development over the period of 1990-2018. This type of study is highly important for the region in order to comply with the commitments of the Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The study first employs appropriate testing procedures and second-generation panel data methods to account for cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity among countries. Applying unit roots and cointegration tests, the study then employed different mean group estimation models and heterogeneous panel causality methods suitable for cross-sectionally dependent and heterogeneous panels. The results of the econometric analyses reveal that the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis does not hold in the Baltic countries. But the pollution haven hypothesis is evidenced to hold for these nations. By boosting the CO 2 emissions figures, again, the study also revealed that higher levels of energy consumption exhibit adverse environmental consequences. Financial development is found to be effective in explaining the variations in the CO 2 emission figures of the selected countries as well. Causality test results confirm bi-directional causality between economic growth and CO 2 emissions, energy use and CO 2 emissions, CO 2 emissions and financial development, energy use and economic growth as well as between energy use and financial development. Furthermore, country-specific impacts are found to be similar to the corresponding panel estimates. Consistent with the findings, the study finally puts forward some policy-level suggestions. Accordingly, it is recommended that the Baltic countries need to move away from fossil-fuel dependent energy consumption growth policies to mitigate environmental degradation., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

This study examines the spatial impact of FDI on ecological footprint of 31 African countries. In achieving this, the study uses the Driscoll-Kraay (1998) random effect model, fixed-effect instrumental variable regression, and the spatial Durbin model. There are three main important findings from this empirical study. First, FDI has a nonlinear impact on ecological footprint in Africa. At the initial stage, FDI reduces ecological footprint up to a threshold of $404.75-$669.96 million, before the impact increases ecological degradation. This result is robust to the instrumental regression model. Second, the results further reveal a significant spatial spillover of FDI on ecological footprint in Africa. Third, the empirical results provide evidence of both direct and spillover effects of environmental degradation determinant in Africa. This denotes that environmental quality of a particular country influences the environmental quality of other neighbouring countries. While it is important to attract significant amount of foreign investment to Africa, this study recommends that African governments need to improve their environmental regulations and laws to achieve transfer of energy-saving technology from foreign investors., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper investigates the mitigating effect of governance quality on the finance-environment nexus in a multivariate EKC framework in 123 selected countries during the 1990-2017 period. We mainly employ the method of moments-quantile regression (MM-QR) with the fixed-effects model, among others. First, the MM-QR estimator reveals that financial development reduces environmental quality more significantly in countries with initially higher levels (the 75 th and 90 th quantiles) of CO 2 emissions than in other countries (the 25 th and 10 th quantiles). Second, the attenuating effect of governance quality on the finance-environment nexus is more remarkable in nations with low initial levels (the 25 th and 10 th quantiles) of CO 2 emissions. Third, we find that the marginal positive effect of financial development on CO 2 emissions is smaller under a good regulatory framework than under corruption control and the rule of law, especially in the top emitters (the 75 th and 90 th quantiles). Fourth, unlike oil, which has a considerable negative impact on the environmental quality of the major emitters, renewable energy usage reduces CO 2 emissions in countries in all quantiles, primarily in the lowest quantiles. Fifth, the findings also show that urbanization dramatically worsens environmental quality in all economies, particularly those in the lowest quantiles. Finally, we confirm that the EKC hypothesis holds in all countries across different quantiles. The study's final section discusses policy implications for sustainable development in all countries., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Green innovation undoubtedly plays a significant role in generating employment opportunities, improving green economic activity, and increasing environmental sustainability. This study scrutinizes the effect of energy efficiency and green innovation on CO2 emissions for China using nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) from 1991 to 2019. Findings show that energy efficiency and green innovation contribute to reducing CO2 emissions in China. Energy efficiency and green innovation are also important nonlinear determinants of CO2 emissions. An increase in energy efficiency and green innovation lowers CO2 emissions, while a fall in energy efficiency and green innovation increases CO2 emissions in China in the long run. Some policy measures are suggested to attain carbon neutrality., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Over the last few years, economic uncertainty has become a global concern. Not only has its impact on economic activities, but there are pieces of evidence that show uncertainty can be the reason for CO 2 emissions. It is also expected that the economic policy uncertainty may decrease or delay economic production, which may lead to a reduction in carbon emissions. Furthermore, uncertainty may decrease friendly environment policies and budgets, which cause an increase in carbon emissions. Thus, there may be an asymmetric relationship between economic uncertainty and the amount of CO 2 emissions. This study investigates the effects of economic policy uncertainty and economic activity on carbon emission applying a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) cointegration approach in Iran between 1971 and 2018. Findings show that both policy uncertainty and economic growth contribute to CO 2 emissions. The negative and positive shocks of GDP and uncertainty index on CO 2 emissions in both the short run and long run are significant. Based on the results, there is an asymmetric effect of economic production on CO 2 emissions in Iran. The results of analyzing asymmetric effects of economic uncertainty show a symmetric relationship between uncertainty index and CO 2 emissions, in a way that a shock in the uncertainty index lowers carbon emission. To sum up, since uncertainty may affect the analysis of carbon emissions incorrectly, some environmental policies such as allocating a budget for R&D on clean energy and environmental taxes must be implemented., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)