Environmental policy stringency, ICT, and technological innovation for achieving sustainable development: Assessing the importance of governance and infrastructure.

Achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) has garnered significant attention from academia and policymakers worldwide. In this study, we examine the impact of ICT, technological innovation (TI), and environmental policy stringency (EPS) on SDI, considering the moderating role of governance quality (GQI) and transport infrastructure (TIS). A comprehensive dataset of 17 advanced nations is utilized from 1996 to 2021. To capture the dynamic and extreme marginal impacts of these policy instruments on SDG attainment, we employ the advanced technique of Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS). The results demonstrate that ICT has a positive and significant effect on SDGs, particularly when combined with high levels of governance quality (GOV) and transport infrastructure (TIS). Likewise, TI has a positive impact on SDGs, especially in the presence of strong governance. Furthermore, EPS exhibits a positive association with SDGs. The findings also reveal that while governance hurts SDGs, this effect diminishes when combined with higher levels of ICT, TI, and EPS, and when TIS positively moderates the relationships. The robustness estimations using DOLS and PCSE methods validate the FGLS findings. These results underscore the importance of ICT, TI, and EPS in advancing sustainable development. Moreover, they highlight the significance of good governance and robust transport infrastructure in maximizing the positive effects of these factors. These findings hold implications for policymakers and stakeholders involved in promoting sustainable development. • Investigates the impact of ICT, TI, and EPS on achieving SDGs in 17 advanced nations from 1996 to 2021. • Our research captures the impact of policy instruments on SDG attainment, with moderating effects of GQI and TIS. • Positive link for all the explanatory factors on SDGs. • Governance shows a negative impact on SDGs, this effect diminishes in the presence of higher levels of ICT, TI, EPS. • Robustness estimations using DOLS and PCSE methods validate the FGLS findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]