Quantile Insights Into Sustainability: Financial Inclusion, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Damage in EAGLE Countries

This study examines how financial inclusion affects the ecological footprint of EAGLE nations (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey). In the process, novel panel data approaches are used to study the years between 2004 and 2022. Furthermore, the environmental impacts of elements like energy efficiency and renewable energy are also investigated, in addition to financial inclusion. In addition, to see how these variables affect the environment at various degrees of environmental degradation, panel quantile‐based approaches are also used. The results indicate that a greater degree of financial inclusion lowers the ecological footprint across all quantiles, but that the environmental degradation reducing effect of financial inclusion decreases in quantiles where environmental degradation is high. Similarly, the use of renewable energy reduces the footprint. In contrast, energy intensity, real income, and population growth increase environmental damage in most quantiles. Based on these results, policy recommendations are made to encourage green finance initiatives that invest primarily in environmentally sustainable projects and technologies and use the funds obtained for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and sustainable agriculture.