Achieving sustainable environment through infrastructure and energy structure developments: empirical evidence from BRICS.

The development of an environment that is sustainable requires infrastructure matching this goal. Moreover, it is almost impossible to achieve this goal without the requisite energy structure. Devising an energy structure that is both effective and efficient must precede the desired infrastructure to achieve sustainability goals. Therefore, it is important to look into the nexus of energy structure, infrastructure, and carbon emissions in "Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS)" countries under the growth and environment hypothesis. To empirically estimate the said nexus, robust econometric techniques are adopted. This paper employs panel data analysis techniques to investigate the relationship between infrastructure, energy consumption, and carbon emissions in the BRICS countries. The econometric estimation methodology includes a cross-sectional dependence test, unit root attribute of the panel data using the cross-sectionally augmented Im Pesaran and Shin (CIPS) test, and estimation of co-integration among the variables, and to address the issues in the panel data, augmented mean group (AMG) technique and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimator were employed. Findings suggest the existence of a supportive role of infrastructure and energy structure in abating carbon emissions. It is suggested that the BRICS economies need to enhance their investment in infrastructure and energy structure for them to create a sustainable environment. Findings are also robust to short- and long-run policy implications. This study is a step forward toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Nexus of renewable energy, green financing, and sustainable development goals: an empirical investigation.

Achieving the sustainable development goals (SDG) agenda, proposed by the United Nations by 2030, has become the main concern around the globe. The continuing ecological crises and energy sustainability issues can only be dealt with using sustainable solutions such as green finance. Green finance has become a pioneer in economic green transformation resulting in the collective development of both the economy and the environment. Therefore, this study aims to examine the influence of green finance on the achievement of the five major sustainable development goals in the context of the economy of Pakistan. The renewable energy scheme proposed by the State Bank of Pakistan in 2016 serves as a basis for this study. We innovate our research by studying the impact of green finance on five SDGs simultaneously. The association between the variables is checked using random effect modeling. The findings reveal that green finance supports SDG 3, 12, and 13 while having little effect on SDG 1 and SDG 2. Moreover, green finance is a suitable reform for the sustainable development of the economy and the environment. The study has robust policy implications for Pakistan.

Measures to achieve carbon neutrality: What is the role of energy structure, infrastructure, and financial inclusion.

Infrastructure and energy structure play key roles in the adaptation of a sustainable environment. In order to achieve a desirable infrastructure and energy structure, financial inclusion is essential. Thus, the current study investigates the nexus of energy structure, infrastructure, financial inclusion, and carbon emissions in the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In particular, the well-known nexus of growth and environment is employed to estimate the linkages using data between 2001 and 2020. The findings suggest the supportive role of infrastructure, energy structure, and financial inclusion in abating carbon emissions. The OECD economies should enhance their investment in infrastructure and energy structure. Moreover, in order to achieve a sustainable environment in the long-run, financial inclusion should also be expanded. The results are also robust to the short- and long-run policy implications. This study is conductive to the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals.

Linkage of natural resources, economic policies, urbanization, and the environmental Kuznets curve.

Natural resource rents (NRR) and economic policies are considerably studied to determine ecological footprints. Currently, due to global uncertainty, renewable energy adoption, and increasing urbanization, every economy is facing challenges to control its ecological footprints. The available literature on the said linkages in the emerging seven economies is inconclusive. Therefore, this study is designed to re-estimate the linkages of NRR, urbanization (URB), economic policy uncertainty (EPU), energy structure (ES), and EFP under the "Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis." Data from 1992 to 2020 is used for empirical evidence, along with robust econometric calculations. The EKC hypothesis does not apply to the E7 economies, according to the findings. The energy structure is assisting in limiting ecological footprints and hence aids in environmental cleanup. The role of NRR, EPU, and URB in limiting the EF, on the other hand, is not encouraging. To minimize environmental degradation, emerging economies should reconsider their economic policies, natural resource rents, and rapid urbanization.

Is Moderating effect of Uncertain Economic Policies helpful for a Sustainable Environment in Emerging Economies?

The basic priority to neutralize carbon emissions (CE) is to achieve the sustainable development goal of climate action. In this regard, the role of renewable energy (RE) is widely debated. Transition to RE and environment-related innovation in technologies (ERIT) is a need of the hour. However, the challenge of uncertain economic policies in the transition process is interesting to study. Therefore, the present study intends to add a value to the literature by re-examining the interactive effect of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) in RE and ERIT and the transition process towards carbon neutrality. The second-generation econometric methodology is applied to empirically test the proposed interactive linkage of EPU, RE, ERIT, and CE. Findings reported the negative role of EPU in adopting RE and ERIT in seven emerging economies: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey. However, the ERIT and RE are found to be supportive of neutralizing the CE. Emerging seven (E7) countries are suggested to be consistent in their economic policies to nurture the transition process toward a sustainable environment.

The nexus of environment-related technologies and consumption-based carbon emissions in top five emitters: empirical analysis through dynamic common correlated effects estimator.

Climate action got attention from the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Although a large number of studies are investigating the said phenomenon, however, the literature on the top five responsible countries is unable to evaluate the role of environment-related technologies (ERTs) and institutional quality (IQ). The top five consumption-based carbon dioxide (CBCO2) emitting economies, i.e., China, India, Japan, Russia, and the USA, are considerable stakeholders in this challenge. To fill this void, with the latest data available from 1992 to 2017, short- and long-run relationships are estimated with dynamic common correlated effects estimator and augmented mean group in the framework of EKC hypothesis. Reported results indicate the negative effect of ERTs and IQ towards CBCO2, which means that adoption of ERTs and better IQ is supportive in controlling environmental degradation. Findings are also robust to the policy implications for the UN's SDGs.

Transition to renewable energy and environmental technologies: The role of economic policy uncertainty in top five polluted economies.

The United Nations' "Sustainable Development Goals" (SDGs) express attention to climate action. Even though a considerable number of papers have targeted this issue, the literature on the top five, "China, India, Japan, Russia, and the United States" economies is uncommon. Therefore, this paper is targeted to examine the influence of renewable energy (RE), environmental technologies (ETs), and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on carbon emissions. By using the most recent data available from 1992 to 2020, results are estimated with robust econometric techniques, i. e. "cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) and augmented mean group (AMG)". Findings reflect the harmful role of EPU. However, RE and ETs have a supportive role in the transition towards a sustainable environment. The findings are also strong in terms of policy implications for the top five polluters.

Do economic policy uncertainty and environment-related technologies help in limiting ecological footprint?

Economic policies related to energy and the environment are found uncertain in developing economies. Renewable energy sources are gradually increasing in energy structure (ES) with the adoption of environment-related technologies (ERT). However, least attention is paid to investigating the nexus of economic policy uncertainty (EPU), ERT, ES, and ecological footprint (EF). Therefore, this study is an effort to examine the EPU, ERT, ES, and interaction of EPU and ERT on EF for BRICS economies under the umbrella of the STIRPAT model. By using the data from 1992 to 2020, findings are estimated through "cross-sectional dependence (CD test); CIPS and CADF unit root test; Westerlund's co-integration; and CS-ARDL, AMG, and CCEMG." Findings unveiled the negative role of EPU on EF. Furthermore, the role of RE and ERT is positive and substantial in decreasing the environmental degradation in BRICS. Therefore, the BRICS economies are suggested to be consistent on economic policies to catch the positive impact of ERT. Findings are robust to the policy implications.

China's investment in energy industry to neutralize carbon emissions: evidence from provincial data.

Investment in the new energy industry (IEI) and industrial pollution prevention (IPP) is an emerging strategy for carbon neutrality. However, little attention has been paid to exploring its direct linkage with environmental degradation. Therefore, the present study is an effort to contribute to a thin body of literature by recruiting IPP and IEI in China's provincial-level carbon emissions (CO2). With the use of the latest maximum data from 1998 to 2017, the long-run relationships are estimated through "augmented mean group estimator (AMG), panel fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and Pairwise Dumitrescu Hurlin (DH) Panel Causality Tests." According to the above-stated econometric techniques, IEI and IPP negatively affect CO2 emissions, which means the reduction in environmental degradation. The study also validates the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for 30 provinces of China. Additionally, IPP shows the long-run unidirectional causal relationship with CO2 emissions, while income level has a bidirectional causal relationship with CO2 emissions. Findings have robust policy implications for China's provinces.

Analysing the role of environment-related technologies and carbon emissions in emerging economies: a step towards sustainable development.

The evaluation of the contribution of consumption-based carbon (CBCO2) emissions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is crucially important for the design of sustainable environmental policies. Despite its importance, attention to the discussion of the role of environment-related technologies (ERT) in abating CBCO2 emission is limited. The role of ERT and renewable energy in reducing carbon emissions is investigated in a panel of seven emerging economies during 1990-2016 in the 'Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC)' framework. Cross-sectional dependence test, CIPS unit root test, Westerlund co-integration, and cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributive lag econometric techniques are employed to support the propositions. Findings suggest the supportive role of environment-related technologies in the presence of renewable energy in reducing carbon emissions. However, GDP growth is substantially worsening the environment. The findings indicate the need to increase investment in environment-related technologies by the E-7 economies for a sustainable reduction in CB CO2 emissions.

Impact of financial inclusion and infrastructure on ecological footprint in OECD economies.

Financial inclusion (FI) is the backbone for every economy; however, a sustainable environment is also inevitable. Therefore, this study investigates the nexus of FI and environment, i.e., ecological footprint (EF) by controlling energy consumption (EC), economic growth (Y), infrastructure (INF), and corruption (CR) in OECD countries from 2004 to 2017. To validate this nexus, the study builds an index of FI and infrastructure through "Principal Component Analysis" (PCA). Furthermore, to estimate the above-said nexus, the study uses the "augmented mean group (AMG), and common correlated effects mean group (CCE-MG)" techniques to produce reliable results. Findings report the supportive role of INF by indicating the need to promote INF to attain a sustainable environment. However, FI, EC, and CR are found to be prominent reasons for environmental degradation. The study has robust policy implications for OECD economies.

Wheat productivity responses in the rice-based system under different no-till techniques and nitrogen sources.

No-till wheat is gaining popularity in rice-based cropping system as it provides a better chance for timely planting of wheat, management of crop residues, as well as environmental and soil sustainability. However, fertilizer application in no-tillage requires careful attention in order to optimize efficiency of fertilizer use by crops. The present study was conducted to develop the most favorable and economical no-till technique along with best blend of nitrogen for successful wheat production in residue-based cropping system. The experiment was composed of five no-till techniques viz., (1) even spreading of loose rice residue and wheat sowing with turbo seeder, (2) even spreading of loose rice residue and wheat sowing with happy seeder, (3) even spreading of loose rice residue and wheat sowing with zone disc tiller, (4) wheat sowing with conventional zero tillage drill after manual removal of rice residues, and (5) wheat sowing with conventional zero tillage drill after burning of rice residues. There were five blends of nitrogen (N) including (1) 100% N from urea, (2) 75% N from urea and 25% N from ammonium sulfate (AS), (3) 50% N from urea and 50% N from AS, (4) 25% N from urea and 75% N from AS, and (5) 100% N from AS. Different no-till techniques and N treatments significantly affected the stand establishment and yield-related traits of wheat during both growing seasons. Soil physical condition was improved by turbo seeder treatment, while it remained poor in residue burned field sown by conventional zero tillage drill. The results over the years revealed that turbo-seeded wheat with N fertilization in the form of 50% urea + 50% AS performed better in terms of productive tillers, grain yield and benefit cost ratio than other no-till techniques along different blends of nitrogen during both years of study. In crux, wheat sowing by turbo seeder along N fertilization in the form of 50% urea + 50% AS treatment is a viable and economical option to increase the wheat production in rice-based production system.