Scrutinizing the role of renewable energy and patents in pollution abatement and economic growth in South Korea

South Korea is considered one of the leading countries in innovation and research and development (R&D), in particular in renewable energy R&D efforts, but it is also one of the more polluting countries. So, understanding the interplay between these variables is of great interest. The main objective of this article is to examine the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions, economic growth (GDP), renewable energy consumption (RE), foreign direct investment (FDI), home patents (HP), and foreign patents (FP) in South Korea using data ranging from 1980 to 2018. For this purpose, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach and Granger causality tests were employed. Estimates of long-run elasticity point to a positive relationship between GDP and CO 2 emissions. FP and RE have a negative influence on CO 2 emissions but they have a favorable effect on GDP. FDI and HP have positive impacts on CO 2 emissions. Granger causality outcomes demonstrate that CO 2 emissions, GDP, RE, and FP have long-term bidirectional causal relationships. In the short-run, there are unidirectional causalities running from FP and FDI to RE and from FDI and HP to GDP. Besides, there is a bidirectional causality between GDP and RE. South Korea should continue to promote renewable energies and facilitate the use of foreign patents, particularly those relating to renewable energies. This will lead to a reduction in its carbon emissions while benefiting its economic growth.