Technological innovation, globalization and ecological quality: A disaggregated ecological footprint approach for BRICS countries.

The ecological footprint (EF) has become one of the leading indicators for environmental assessments. The EF is an indicator that is at the center of researchers' interest in empirical analysis, as it simultaneously reflects air, water, and soil pollution. Analyzing the six sub-components of the EF is essential for assessing the environmental pressures from forestry, construction, fisheries, agriculture, and livestock, as well as for remediating these pressures. In this context, this study examines the impact of income, globalization, and technological progress (represented by patents) on the EF and its subcomponents for the BRICS countries over the period 1992-2020. The BRICS countries are of critical importance to this study as major countries in the global economic and environmental landscape. The study employs the panel LM cointegration test and the common correlated effects estimator. The results show that economic expansion augments ecological, carbon, and built-up land footprints and that patents have no significant impact on the EF indicators. On the contrary, globalization is a factor that reduces five of the seven EF indicators. A robustness check performed with a half-panel jackknife confirms the analysis findings. These results suggest that BRICS policymakers should harmonize economic development and ecology while making greater use of the environmental benefits of globalization.

Response of renewable energy minerals to energy policy and technological advancement: An assessment of the Russian energy crisis.

The world is turning to renewable energy sources to combat environmental degradation. This is part of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-7, which envisions affordable and clean energy. However, achieving the SDG-7 targets and spreading clean energy requires extracting and utilizing various minerals. Russia is one of the leading countries in the world in terms of cobalt, graphite, and rare elements used for renewable energy production. Russia must increase the production of minerals for renewable energy production to achieve SDG-7. In this context, the study aims to investigate the impact of energy policy uncertainty (ENPU), environmental policy stringency (EPS), environmental patents (ETEC), and information and communication technologies (ICT) on renewable energy minerals in Russia. To this end, the study uses novel multivariate quantile-on-quantile regression (M-QQR) and cross-quantilogram (CQ) approaches for the period from 2002m9-2020m12. The M-QQR results show that EPS, ICT, and ETEC increase the extraction of renewable energy minerals, while ENPU inhibits the extraction of cobalt, graphite, and rare elements. The main results indicate that technological progress supports the extraction of renewable energy minerals in Russia and that a strict environmental fiscal policy contributes to the achievement of SDG-7. Based on the findings, Russia needs to support technological progress in the ecological field, implement strict environmental policies, and reduce uncertainties related to energy policies to extract renewable energy minerals and advance the achievement of SDG-7.

How are electricity generation effective on carbon neutrality in the global south? Evidence from sectoral CO2 emissions by daily data.

In light of the efforts to ensure carbon neutrality by combating climate-related problems, the study investigates the effectiveness of electricity generation (EG) from the main renewable sources (hydro-HEG, solar-SEG, and wind-WEG). In this context, the study examines the countries of the Global South (i.e., Brazil, China, and India), considers EG at a disaggregated level and sectoral CO2 emissions, applies nonlinear methods, and uses daily data between January 2, 2019 and December 31, 2022. The results demonstrate that (i) disaggregated EG sources have a stronger (weaker) time and frequency dependency on sectoral CO2 emissions in China (Brazil and India); (ii) HEG has a stimulating impact on sectoral CO2 emissions in all countries; (iii) SEG has an increasing impact on sectoral CO2 emissions in Brazil and China, while it provides a decrease in sectoral CO2 emissions in India; (iv) WEG upsurges sectoral CO2 emissions in China, while it achieves a CO2 reduction in Brazil and India; (v) disaggregated level EG has a causal impact on sectoral CO2 emissions across all quantiles except some lower, middle, and higher quantiles. The study adds scientific value to existing knowledge by analyzing for the first time which EG sources are effective in reducing daily CO2 emissions in the Global South. Based on the outcomes, the study demonstrates that WEG is the best EG source for Brazil, that SEG and WEG are optimal EG sources for India, and that China cannot benefit from the EG sources considered. In this way, the study provides fresh insights for the countries of the Global South and underlines the crucial role of renewable EG in ensuring carbon neutrality.

Time and frequency analysis of daily-based nexus between global CO2 emissions and electricity generation nexus by novel WLMC approach.

The studies have focused on changes in CO2 emissions over different periods, including the COVID-19 pandemic. Even if CO2 emissions are temporarily reduced during the pandemic according to annual figures, this may be misleading. Considering annual figures is important to understand the overall trend, but using data with much higher frequency (e.g., daily) is much better suited to investigate dynamic relationships and external effects. Therefore, this study comprehensively analyzes the association between CO2 emissions and disaggregated electricity generation (EG) sources across the globe by employing the novel wavelet local multiple correlation (WLMC) approach on daily data from 1st January 2020 to 31st March 2023. The results demonstrate that (1) based on the main statistics, daily CO2 emissions range between 69 MtCO2 and 116 MtCO2, indicating that there is an oscillation, but no sharp changes over the analyzed period. (2) based on the baseline regression using the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) approach, the constructed estimation models have a high predictive ability of CO2 emissions, reaching ~ 94%; (3) in the further analysis employing the WLMC approach, there are significant externalities between EG resources, which affect CO2 emissions. The results present novel insights about time- and frequency-varying effects as well as a disaggregated analysis of the effect of EG on CO2 emissions, demonstrating the significance of the energy transition towards clean sources around the world.

Does Climate Change Cause an Upsurge in Food Prices?

Climate change is the reason behind most contemporary economic problems. The rising inflationary pressures in the food sector are one of these problems, and stable food prices are a necessity for economic development and social cohesion in societies. Therefore, this study analyzes the relationship between food prices and climate change in Nigeria by using various non-linear and quantile-based methods and data from 2008m5 to 2020m12. The empirical findings indicate that (i) there is a time- and frequency-based dependence between food prices and some explanatory variables, including climate change (i.e., temperature). (ii) At higher quantiles, temperature, oil prices, food exports, monetary expansion, global food prices, agricultural prices, and fertilizer prices stimulate food prices. (iii) The increase in food prices due to the rise in temperature and the difficulties in agriculture indicate that the heatflation phenomenon is present in Nigeria. The evidence outlines that Nigerian decisionmakers should adopt a national food security policy that considers environmental, agricultural, and monetary factors to stabilize food prices.

Do life expectancy and hydropower consumption affect ecological footprint? Evidence from novel augmented and dynamic ARDL approaches.

Human activities threaten the future of the ecosystem by emitting pollution to the air, water, and soil. Considering the increasing ecological footprint (EF), the study focuses on investigating the role of life expectancy and hydropower consumption by controlling also income, trade openness, and globalization on the environment under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for Turkey during 1971-2018. In this context, the study performs recently developed augmented autoregressive distributed lag (AARDL) and dynamic ARDL (DARDL) methods. The results show that (i) life expectancy increases the environmental pressure; (ii) hydropower consumption has no effect on the EF; (iii) globalization and trade openness reduce the EF; (iv) the EKC hypothesis is valid, but the estimated turning point lies between USD 19,914 and USD 20,571, which is far from the sample period in Turkey. From the overall results, it can be concluded that Turkey cannot solve environmental problems with insufficient income levels, an increasing elderly population, and ineffective use of hydropower. Hence, Turkey should rely on income much more, use hydropower much more efficiently, and benefit from the spillover effect of technological innovations related to globalization and foreign trade to significantly reduce the EF.

Impact of renewable energy investments in curbing sectoral CO2 emissions: evidence from China by nonlinear quantile approaches.

The study analyzes the impact of renewable energy investments (RENIV) on the environment in China. In doing so, the study uses sectoral carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions as the environment indicator, considers RENIV as the explanatory variable, includes monthly data from 2004/1 to 2020/6, runs quantile on quantile regression approach as the fundamental model, and further performs quantile regression for the controlling. The study reveals that RENIV curb CO2 emissions in all sectors at higher levels of sectoral CO2 emissions. Also, RENIV have a varying impact based on quantiles and sectors. Moreover, the results are robust based on the alternative approach. Thus, RENIV have a significantly decreasing impact on sectoral CO2 emissions in China. Accordingly, China policymakers should continue to focus on providing a decrease in energy and industrial sector CO2 emissions as the highest emitting sectors.

Evaluating the link between innovative human capital and regional sustainable development: Empirical evidence from China.

Innovative human capital (IHC) can boost the economic growth of nations. However, in recent years, economies have become more attuned to sustainable development. In this context, it is important to assess the potential impact of IHC on green growth. Against this background, this study empirically examines the role of IHC on regional green growth in China, considering the spatial spillover effect and focusing on the quantity and quality of human capital and its direct and indirect effects on green growth. To this end, this paper adopts the spatial Durbin model, constructs an indicator system to evaluate green growth, and establishes a calculation formula for the quantity and quality of IHC. The empirical analysis provided some important findings. First, IHC and green growth have strong spatial correlation characteristics. Second, the quantity of IHC has a significant positive impact on regional green growth; however, the quality of IHC does not promote regional green growth. Third, the quantity and quality of IHC indirectly improve the level of regional green growth through technological progress. Finally, the role of IHC and its spatial spillover effect in improving the regional green growth level are most obvious in the central and western regions of China. Therefore, promoting green growth requires enhancing the accumulation of IHC and narrowing the gap between eastern and western China in the accumulation of IHC.

Analyzing economic growth, eco-innovation, and ecological quality nexus in E-7 countries: accounting for non-linear impacts of urbanization by using a new measure of ecological quality.

The rising urban population and accelerated resource consumption pose major environmental challenges. Given that around 75% of global resources are consumed in urban areas, understanding the true association between urbanization (UR) and ecological quality is necessary for better urban strategies. Alongside this, eco-innovation (ECO) can limit environmental pollution and thus, it is the cornerstone of environmental policies. On that note, this research discloses the nexus between eco-innovation, economic growth (EGR), and ecological quality by considering the non-linear effects of UR in the emerging seven (E-7) nations from 1992 to 2018. Unlike previous literature, the newly developed indicator of ecological quality (the load capacity factor (LCF)) is adopted to understand the connection between UR, eco-innovation, and ecological quality since this new comprehensive indicator is based on both biocapacity and ecological footprint (EF). In the methodology, the "Continuously Updated-Fully Modified" (CuP-FM) test is used since this method offers diverse benefits for panel data estimation by accounting for major panel data estimation issues including autocorrelation, endogeneity, heteroscedasticity, fractional integration, and cross-sectional dependence. The empirical estimates unveiled that the current levels as well as high levels of UR limit the LCF. This evidence suggests that UR in the E-7 nations expands ecological degradation. This finding contradicts the assertions of ecological modernization theory that expanding urbanization brings some ecological benefits. Similarly, economic growth alleviates ecological quality. However, eco-innovation and agricultural land (AGL) contribute to enhancing the LCF and promoting ecological quality. Further, UR and eco-innovation Granger cause the LCF. Lastly, comprehensive urban environmental strategies are discussed to promote sustainable urbanization backed by eco-innovation.

Carbon efficiency and sustainable environment in India: impacts of structural change, renewable energy consumption, fossil fuel efficiency, urbanization, and technological innovation.

Minimizing carbon pollution and fossil fuels is among the most crucial issues in the sustainable development goals (SDGs). However, global environmental concerns have increased since India did not sign the global coal pledge at COP 26. It is therefore a question mark how India will achieve the 2070 carbon-free target with the increasing use of coal and oil. In this contenxt, this work examines the impact of fossil fuel efficiency, structural change, renewable energy consumption, technological innovation, and urbanization on carbon efficiency in India from 1980 to 2019. Employing the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag approach; the study reveals that fossil fuel efficiency, structural change, renewable energy, and technological innovation improve carbon efficiency, while urbanization worsens environmental quality. Based on the study's findings, the Indian government should invest more and incentivize technological innovation that supports fossil fuel efficiency and renewable energy deployment to achieve the SDGs.

Dynamic link between central bank reserves, credit default swap spreads, and foreign exchange rates: Evidence from Turkey by time series econometrics.

In this study, dynamic links between central bank reserves (CBR), credit default swap (CDS) spreads, and foreign exchange (FX) rates are investigated. So, Turkey, which is a negative outlier country among other peer emerging countries, is examined by considering recent developments on these indicators. In doing so, the study covers relatively high frequency (i.e., weekly) data from January 2, 2004 to November 12, 2021, performs various econometric approaches as Wavelet Coherence (WC), Quantile-on-Quantile Regression (QQR), and Granger Causality in Quantiles (GCQ) as main models, and applies Toda-Yamamoto (TY) causality and Quantile Regression (QR) for the robustness. The results show that (i) there is a time-frequency dependency between the CBR, CDS spreads, and FX rates; (ii) a bidirectional link exists between the CBR and FX rates; between the FX rates and CDS spreads; and between the CDS spreads and CBR; (iii) the link exists in most quantiles except for some lower and middle quantiles for some indicators; (iv) explanatory effect of the indicators on each other varies based on quantiles; (v) the robustness of the results are validated by the TY causality test for the WC model and by the QR approach for the QQR model. The results suggest the significance of the CBR for the FX rates, the FX rates for the CDS spreads, and the CDS spreads for the CBR.

Environmental reverberations of geopolitical risk and economic policy uncertainty resulting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict: A wavelet based approach for sectoral CO2 emissions.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and a natural gas crisis between the European Union (EU) and Russia has begun. These events have negatively affected humanity and resulted in economic and environmental consequences. Against this background, this study examines the impact of geopolitical risk (GPR) and economic policy uncertainty (EPU) caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, on sectoral carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. To this end, the study analyzes data from January 1997 to October 2022 by using wavelet transform coherence (WTC) and time-varying wavelet causality test (TVWCT) approaches. The WTC results show that GPR and EPU reduce CO2 emissions in the residential, commercial, industrial, and electricity sectors, while GPR increases CO2 emissions in the transportation sector during the period from January 2019 to October 2022, which includes Russia-Ukraine conflict. The WTC analysis also indicates that the reduction in CO2 emissions provided by the EPU is higher than that of the GPR for several periods. According to the TVWCT, there are causal impacts of the GPR and the EPU on sectoral CO2 emissions, but the timing of the causal impacts differs between the raw and decomposed data. The results suggest that the EPU has a larger impact on reducing sectoral CO2 emissions during the Ukraine-Russia crisis and that production disruptions due to uncertainty have the greatest impact on reducing CO2 emissions in the electric power and transportation sectors.

Achieving SDG-13 in the Era of Conflicts: The Roles of Economic Growth and Government Stability.

Establishing effective climate control and reducing the ecological footprint (EF) are necessary for pursuing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goal 13. In this context, it is required to enhance the understanding of various factors that can either decrease or enhance the EF. In the literature to date, limited studies on external conflicts (EX) have reported diverse results, and also the impacts of government stability (GS) on EF are less explored. This study explores the roles of external conflicts, economic growth, and government stability on EF in the context of SDG-13. The study also contributes to the literature by examining the environmental effects of government stability and external conflicts for the first time in Pakistan. This research uses time-series methodologies on data from Pakistan from 1984 to 2018 for exploring the long-run relations and causal dynamics. The results unfolded that external conflicts stimulate and Granger cause EF and therefore expand environmental deterioration. Thus, limiting conflicts is in the favor of Pakistan to achieve SDG-13. Surprisingly, government stability also poses harmful impacts on environmental quality by enhancing the EF, indicating that stable governments focus on improving economic conditions rather than environmental quality. Moreover, the study proves the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve. Policy suggestions are made to move forward in achieving SDG-13 and to evaluate the effectiveness of government environmental policies.

Convergence of Income Inequality in OECD Countries Since 1870: A Multi-Method Approach with Structural Changes.

This paper aims to examine convergence of income inequality in 21 OECD countries using several empirical techniques. In particular, we have used a new panel stationarity test, which allows for structural changes and cross-sectional dependence to examine the stochastic convergence of income inequality. We also employed a time series approach, residual augmented least squares-Lagrange multiplier unit root test. The empirical results show evidence for absolute, conditional, and sigma convergence. The conditional convergence test results suggest that countries are converging, but conditional on the two structural factors-economic and population growth. The stochastic convergence test results indicate the existence of convergence at the country-specific level. The results further confirm the existence of convergent clubs among OECD countries.

Assessing the role of the insurance market and renewable energy in the load capacity factor of OECD countries.

In the empirical literature, few studies assessed the influence of the insurance market on carbon emissions. However, the effects of insurance markets on the load capacity factor (LCF) have been ignored. In this regard, the objective of the current work is to assess the potential impact of the insurance market on environmental sustainability in 27 OECD countries from 1990 to 2018 based on the LCF, which implies the strength of a state to enhance the population based on the current lifestyle. The present work employed the novel Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR). This model is the prime and correct technique to better understand the association between the insurance market and the LCF across heterogeneous quantiles and to yield more robust empirical outcomes. The MMQR findings indicate a negative interaction between the insurance market and the LCF. In other words, the insurance sector has a powerful influence on economic activities and investments, such that insurance activities lead to an increase in the level of energy utilization, and thus have a negative influence on ecological sustainability. In contrast, the findings illustrate a positive and considerable association between renewable energy consumption and LCF. Based on the overall outcomes, it is suggested that OECD countries should focus on policies that encourage the use of renewable energy rather than incentivizing the insurance market. OECD country governments should also support green insurance activities to minimize the environmental damage of the insurance market.

Endorsing sustainable development in BRICS: The role of technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, and natural resources in limiting carbon emission.

This research aimed to examine the complex interaction between technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, natural resources, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of BRICS (i.e., Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) countries from 1990 to 2019, to accomplish the Paris Climate Conference (COP-21) objective of reducing CO2 emissions to promote environmental sustainability. The long-run empirical estimations derived from the CS-ARDL technique, which considered other estimation issues like cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity, indicated that technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, and natural resources increase environmental sustainability by limiting CO2 emissions, in the short-run and long-run. The technological innovation-related activities have a CO2 mitigating effect as shown by the negative coefficients which ranges between -0.05 and -0.14. This shows that they increase environmental sustainability and aid in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 13. Similarly, renewable energy and natural resources decrease CO2 emissions as shown by the coefficient of renewable energy (-0.31 to -0.81) and natural resources (-0.01 to 0.95); thereby increasing ecological quality by limiting CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the interaction of technological innovation with natural resource rent and renewable energy consumption also aids in mitigating CO2 emissions and increases environmental health. Finally, panel causality analysis revealed a significant causality from all explanatory variables to CO2 emissions. Based on the results, significant policy suggestions are provided, such as improving energy effectiveness, investing in energy technologies, and increasing renewable energy consumption to stimulate technological innovation to achieve the target of a net-zero­carbon economy.

Persistence of shocks on sectoral non-methane volatile organic compound from 1820 to 2019: Insights from a fourier quantile unit root test.

Despite being directly related to anthropogenic consumption and production, researchers have paid less attention to understanding the dynamics of non-methane volatile organic compounds. The primary objective of this research is to investigate the persistence of potential shocks to non-methane volatile organic compounds in 20 developed from 1820 to 2019 performing traditional unit root approaches and a newly developed Fourier quantile unit root test. Great portion of the empirical results obtained by traditional unit root tests reveal that the sectoral non-methane volatile organic compounds follow a non-stationary process, while the Fourier quantile unit root test indicate quite different results. The Fourier quantile test shows that non-methane volatile organic compounds are stationary in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, France and Austria. In the other 15 countries, government interventions to reduce non-methane volatile organic compounds can have lasting effects and success. The inferences and policy outcomes of the empirical results are discussed in the main body of the paper.

How effective are renewable energy, tourism, trade openness, and foreign direct investment on CO2 emissions? An EKC analysis for ASEAN countries.

The effects of renewable energy, tourism, foreign direct investment, and income on environmental degradation have attracted the attention of many researchers, but to date, no researcher has examined the concurrent effects of these variables on CO2 emissions for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. Motivated by this gap in the literature, this study aims to analyze the determinants of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for six ASEAN countries. To this end, the study utilizes the panel ARDL estimator and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test from 1995 to 2018. The results show that (i) tourism and foreign direct investment increase CO2 emissions. (ii) Real income and trade openness reduce environmental degradation. (iii) Since the long-run income elasticity is lower than the short-run, the EKC hypothesis is valid. (iv) Renewable energy reduces carbon emissions only in the short term and has no effect on environmental quality in the long term. There is also no causal relationship between renewable energy and environmental degradation. This could be due to the ineffective deployment of renewable energy in ASEAN countries. Based on these results, this study suggests that ASEAN countries should effectively use renewable energy, reduce the amount of fossil energy in the tourism sector, and support economic development to achieve a sustainable environment.

Persistence of CO2 emissions in G7 countries: a different outlook from wavelet-based linear and nonlinear unit root tests.

Today, environmental issues such as the inability to control rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, climate change, and global warming are on the agenda of policy-makers and various organizations. The Paris Agreement, signed in 2016 and rejoined by the USA in 2021, emphasizes the need for decarbonization and the importance of CO2 reduction for sustainable development. Since environmental policies can have long-term effects on variables containing unit roots, it is important for policy-makers to understand the stochastic properties of CO2 emissions. In this context, we propose a new wavelet-based nonlinear unit root test to investigate the stationary properties of the per capita CO2 emissions for the G7 countries during the period 1868-2014. To compare results, we use eight different tests that take into account both the time-frequency domain difference, the nonlinear-linear difference, and smooth structural breaks. The results of the different linear tests illustrate that CO2 emissions have a unit root in the frequency domain for all countries. Moreover, nonlinear unit root test results indicate that the CO2 emissions for the UK are stationary in the time domain. Overall, we consider frequency domain test results, and conclude that CO2 emission policies have permanent effects for G7 countries. Based on the findings, we recommend that the G7 countries take long-term measures to reduce CO2 emissions, such as joint actions to improve environmental quality through fossil fuel conservation, renewable energy improvement, and environmental awareness programs.

Is reducing fossil fuel intensity important for environmental management and ensuring ecological efficiency in China?

Since China is a country with high environmental pollution, researchers have intensively studied China's environmental problems using various environmental indicators such as carbon emissions and ecological footprint. Unlike previous literature, this study analyzes the effects of economic growth, globalization, foreign direct investment, and fossil energy intensity on ecological efficiency in China. As an innovation to the literature, the study examines the Chinese ecosystem simultaneously with its economic and environmental aspects by focusing on ecological efficiency. To this end, the study applies dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (DARDL) simulations and kernel-based regularized least squares (KRLS) methods for the period from 1990 to 2018. The results of the DARDL simulations show that globalization, and economic growth enhance ecological efficiency in China. The findings also demonstrate that both foreign direct investment and fossil fuel intensity have a negative impact on environmental quality in China. Based on these results, the study suggests that the Chinese government should adopt policies to channel foreign direct investment into environmentally friendly production, reduce fossil fuel intensity, and improve ecological efficiency by making use of environmentally friendly technologies provided by globalization and economic development.