IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i15p6910-d1713094.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

When Do Innovation and Renewable Energy Transition Drive Environmental Sustainability?

Author

Listed:
  • Anis Omri

    (Department of Business Administration, College of Business and Economics, Qassim University, P.O. Box 6640, Buraidah 51452, Saudi Arabia
    Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management of Nabeul, University of Carthage, Carthage 1054, Tunisia)

  • Fadhila Hamza

    (Department of Accounting, College of Business Administration, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia)

  • Noura Alkahtani

    (Department of Accounting, College of Business Administration, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia)

Abstract

This study examines the contributions of renewable energy transition (RET) and environmental innovation (EI) to environmental performance in G7 countries from 2003 to 2021, with a focus on the transmission channels of green finance and environmental governance. Using the Augmented Mean Group (AMG) estimator and confirming robustness through the Dynamic Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (DCCE-MG) method, the study explores both direct and indirect effects of RET and EI on two key environmental indicators: the Environmental Performance Index and the Load Capacity Factor. The results reveal that both RET and EI have a significant impact on environmental performance. Moreover, green finance and environmental governance serve as crucial channels through which RET and EI exert their influence. These findings underscore the importance of developing effective financial instruments and robust regulatory frameworks to translate energy and innovation policies into tangible environmental benefits. By highlighting the interplay between technological advancement, financial capacity, and institutional quality, this study provides novel insights into the environmental policy landscape of advanced economies and offers guidance for designing integrated strategies to achieve long-term sustainability goals.

Suggested Citation

  • Anis Omri & Fadhila Hamza & Noura Alkahtani, 2025. "When Do Innovation and Renewable Energy Transition Drive Environmental Sustainability?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-26, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:15:p:6910-:d:1713094
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/15/6910/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/15/6910/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhao, Yong & Tang, Kam Ki & Wang, Li-li, 2013. "Do renewable electricity policies promote renewable electricity generation? Evidence from panel data," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 887-897.
    2. Sadorsky, Perry, 2009. "Renewable energy consumption and income in emerging economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 4021-4028, October.
    3. Rennings, Klaus, 2000. "Redefining innovation -- eco-innovation research and the contribution from ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 319-332, February.
    4. Markus Eberhardt, 2012. "Estimating panel time-series models with heterogeneous slopes," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 12(1), pages 61-71, March.
    5. Costantini, Valeria & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2012. "On the green and innovative side of trade competitiveness? The impact of environmental policies and innovation on EU exports," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 132-153.
    6. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    7. Xiong, Yuyu & Dai, Li, 2023. "Does green finance investment impact on sustainable development: Role of technological innovation and renewable energy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 342-349.
    8. Brambor, Thomas & Clark, William Roberts & Golder, Matt, 2006. "Understanding Interaction Models: Improving Empirical Analyses," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 63-82, January.
    9. Bhattacharya, Mita & Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy & Ozturk, Ilhan & Bhattacharya, Sankar, 2016. "The effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth: Evidence from top 38 countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 733-741.
    10. Razi, Ummara & Karim, Sitara & Cheong, Calvin W.H., 2024. "From turbulence to resilience: A bibliometric insight into the complex interactions between energy price volatility and green finance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 304(C).
    11. Dong, Chunlong & Wu, Hao & Zhou, Jianwen & Lin, Huifang & Chang, Lei, 2023. "Role of renewable energy investment and geopolitical risk in green finance development: Empirical evidence from BRICS countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 234-241.
    12. Sun, Jiaqi & Li, Ping & Wang, Yunqiao, 2024. "Policy tools for sustainability: Evaluating the effectiveness of fiscal measures in natural resource efficiency," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    13. Sinha, Avik & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Sengupta, Tuhin, 2018. "Renewable Energy Policies and Contradictions in Causality: A case of Next 11 Countries," MPRA Paper 87542, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Jun 2018.
    14. Zhou, Zheng & Chau, Ka Yin & Sibghatullah, Amena & Moslehpour, Massoud & Tien, Nguyen Hoang & Nizomjon Shukurullaevich, Khajimuratov, 2024. "The role of green finance, environmental benefits, fintech development, and natural resource management in advancing sustainability," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    15. Zhang, Ling & Berk Saydaliev, Hayot & Ma, Xiaoyu, 2022. "Does green finance investment and technological innovation improve renewable energy efficiency and sustainable development goals," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 991-1000.
    16. Inglesi-Lotz, Roula, 2016. "The impact of renewable energy consumption to economic growth: A panel data application," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 58-63.
    17. Horbach, Jens, 2008. "Determinants of environmental innovation--New evidence from German panel data sources," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 163-173, February.
    18. Omri, Anis & Nguyen, Duc Khuong, 2014. "On the determinants of renewable energy consumption: International evidence," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 554-560.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dogan, Eyup & Altinoz, Buket & Madaleno, Mara & Taskin, Dilvin, 2020. "The impact of renewable energy consumption to economic growth: A replication and extension of Inglesi-Lotz (2016)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    2. Chen, Chaoyi & Pinar, Mehmet & Stengos, Thanasis, 2021. "Determinants of renewable energy consumption: Importance of democratic institutions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 75-83.
    3. Quatraro, Francesco & Scandura, Alessandra, 2019. "Academic Inventors and the Antecedents of Green Technologies. A Regional Analysis of Italian Patent Data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 247-263.
    4. Doytch, Nadia & Narayan, Seema, 2021. "Does transitioning towards renewable energy accelerate economic growth? An analysis of sectoral growth for a dynamic panel of countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    5. Baye, Richmond Silvanus & Ahenkan, Albert & Darkwah, Samuel, 2021. "Renewable energy output in sub Saharan Africa," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 705-714.
    6. Hu, Hui & Xie, Nan & Fang, Debin & Zhang, Xiaoling, 2018. "The role of renewable energy consumption and commercial services trade in carbon dioxide reduction: Evidence from 25 developing countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 1229-1244.
    7. Wang, Qiang & Zhang, Fuyu, 2021. "Free trade and renewable energy: A cross-income levels empirical investigation using two trade openness measures," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 1027-1039.
    8. Olimpia Neagu & Mircea Constantin Teodoru, 2019. "The Relationship between Economic Complexity, Energy Consumption Structure and Greenhouse Gas Emission: Heterogeneous Panel Evidence from the EU Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-29, January.
    9. Abdulrasheed Zakari & Hammed Oluwaseyi Musibau, 2024. "Sustainable economic development in OECD countries: Does energy security matter?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 1337-1353, February.
    10. Vitaliy Roud & Thomas Wolfgang Thurner, 2018. "The Influence of State‐Ownership on Eco‐Innovations in Russian Manufacturing Firms," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(5), pages 1213-1227, October.
    11. Namahoro, J.P. & Wu, Q. & Su, H., 2023. "Wind energy, industrial-economic development and CO2 emissions nexus: Do droughts matter?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    12. Durán-Romero, Gemma & López, Ana M. & Beliaeva, Tatiana & Ferasso, Marcos & Garonne, Christophe & Jones, Paul, 2020. "Bridging the gap between circular economy and climate change mitigation policies through eco-innovations and Quintuple Helix Model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    13. Riza Radmehr & Samira Shayanmehr & Ernest Baba Ali & Elvis Kwame Ofori & Elżbieta Jasińska & Michał Jasiński, 2022. "Exploring the Nexus of Renewable Energy, Ecological Footprint, and Economic Growth through Globalization and Human Capital in G7 Economics," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-19, September.
    14. Ren, Shenggang & Hu, Yucai & Zheng, Jingjing & Wang, Yangjie, 2020. "Emissions trading and firm innovation: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    15. Shahnazi, Rouhollah & Dehghan Shabani, Zahra, 2020. "Do renewable energy production spillovers matter in the EU?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 786-796.
    16. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Raghutla, Chandrashekar & Chittedi, Krishna Reddy & Jiao, Zhilun & Vo, Xuan Vinh, 2020. "The effect of renewable energy consumption on economic growth: Evidence from the renewable energy country attractive index," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    17. Daniel Ştefan Armeanu & Georgeta Vintilă & Ştefan Cristian Gherghina, 2017. "Does Renewable Energy Drive Sustainable Economic Growth? Multivariate Panel Data Evidence for EU-28 Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    18. Gozgor, Giray & Paramati, Sudharshan Reddy, 2022. "Does energy diversification cause an economic slowdown? Evidence from a newly constructed energy diversification index," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    19. Brian Chi-ang Lin & Siqi Zheng & Nicolò Barbieri & Claudia Ghisetti & Marianna Gilli & Giovanni Marin & Francesco Nicolli, 2016. "A Survey Of The Literature On Environmental Innovation Based On Main Path Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 596-623, July.
    20. Shang, Yunfeng & Han, Ding & Gozgor, Giray & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Sahoo, Bimal Kishore, 2022. "The impact of climate policy uncertainty on renewable and non-renewable energy demand in the United States," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 654-667.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:15:p:6910-:d:1713094. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.