IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/endesu/v27y2025i8d10.1007_s10668-024-04662-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pathways to ecological resilience: exploring green energy and finance for sustainable development

Author

Listed:
  • Iqra Mehroush

    (Quaid-I-Azam University)

  • Wasim Abbas Shaheen

    (Quaid-I-Azam University)

  • Mohsin Shabir

    (Shandong University of Finance and Economics)

  • Muhammad Talha

    (Quaid-I-Azam University)

Abstract

The risk of global warming and the difficulties brought on by climate change are mostly due to the production and use of energy, which puts the world at a crossroads. However, increasing worldwide greenhouse gas emissions over the past few decades have made climate-related development funding necessary, and the worldwide goal is to achieve ecological sustainability while reducing environmental degradation. As a result, economies seeking power for sustainable growth must innovate. As a direct response to the growing threat that is posed by global warming, academics and politicians are looking more closely at the way economic growth and environmental protection interact with one another. Still, it is unclear how environmental pollution may be significantly decreased globally. Hence, the study aim is to analyze the influence of green technology innovation (GTI), economic growth (EG), and foreign direct investment (FDI) on sustainable development (SD) by using renewable energy consumption (REC) as a mediator and the moderating influence of government initiatives (GI) of 126 nations from 2001–2019. In this regard, the study employed second-generation techniques of unit root tests of CIPS and CADF, Westerlund cointegration test, and Hayes PROCESS macro. The results indicate that the native natural ecosystem used renewable energy sources. Despite this, environmental performance in numerous countries is declining because of growing energy use and FDI. The study findings imply that countries could improve environmental performance by developing and implementing more targeted policies and green finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Iqra Mehroush & Wasim Abbas Shaheen & Mohsin Shabir & Muhammad Talha, 2025. "Pathways to ecological resilience: exploring green energy and finance for sustainable development," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(8), pages 17861-17885, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:8:d:10.1007_s10668-024-04662-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s10668-024-04662-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10668-024-04662-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10668-024-04662-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhang, Dongyang & Mohsin, Muhammad & Rasheed, Abdul Khaliq & Chang, Youngho & Taghizadeh-Hesary, Farhad, 2021. "Public spending and green economic growth in BRI region: Mediating role of green finance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    2. Zuocheng Chen & Krishna P. Paudel & Rongqing Zheng, 2022. "Pollution halo or pollution haven: assessing the role of foreign direct investment on energy conservation and emission reduction," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(2), pages 311-336, January.
    3. Abiodun Adegbile & David Sarpong & Dirk Meissner, 2017. "Strategic Foresight for Innovation Management: A Review and Research Agenda," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(04), pages 1-34, August.
    4. Joakim Westerlund & David L. Edgerton, 2008. "A Simple Test for Cointegration in Dependent Panels with Structural Breaks," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 70(5), pages 665-704, October.
    5. Madaleno, Mara & Dogan, Eyup & Taskin, Dilvin, 2022. "A step forward on sustainability: The nexus of environmental responsibility, green technology, clean energy and green finance," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    6. Hua-Hung (Robin) Weng & Ja-Shen Chen & Pei-Ching Chen, 2015. "Effects of Green Innovation on Environmental and Corporate Performance: A Stakeholder Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-30, April.
    7. Rubashkina, Yana & Galeotti, Marzio & Verdolini, Elena, 2015. "Environmental regulation and competitiveness: Empirical evidence on the Porter Hypothesis from European manufacturing sectors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 288-300.
    8. Christina Kakderi & Eleni Oikonomaki & Ilektra Papadaki, 2021. "Smart and Resilient Urban Futures for Sustainability in the Post COVID-19 Era: A Review of Policy Responses on Urban Mobility," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-21, June.
    9. Khan, Anwar & Chenggang, Yang & Hussain, Jamal & Bano, Sadia & Nawaz, AAmir, 2020. "Natural resources, tourism development, and energy-growth-CO2 emission nexus: A simultaneity modeling analysis of BRI countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    10. Syed Mehmood Ali Shah & Yang Jiang & Hao Wu & Zahoor Ahmed & Irfan Ullah & Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo, 2021. "Linking Green Human Resource Practices and Environmental Economics Performance: The Role of Green Economic Organizational Culture and Green Psychological Climate," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-17, October.
    11. Li, Menghan & Zhang, Kaiyue & Alamri, Ahmad Mohammed & Ageli, Mohammed Moosa & Khan, Numan, 2023. "Resource curse hypothesis and sustainable development: Evaluating the role of renewable energy and R&D," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    12. Hashem Pesaran, M. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2008. "Testing slope homogeneity in large panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(1), pages 50-93, January.
    13. Nasreen, Samia & Mbarek, Mounir Ben & Atiq-ur-Rehman, Muhammad, 2020. "Long-run causal relationship between economic growth, transport energy consumption and environmental quality in Asian countries: Evidence from heterogeneous panel methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    14. Faucheux, S. & Nicolaï, I., 2011. "IT for green and green IT: A proposed typology of eco-innovation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 2020-2027, September.
    15. Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo & Dervis Kirikkaleli, 2021. "Impact of renewable energy consumption, globalization, and technological innovation on environmental degradation in Japan: application of wavelet tools," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(11), pages 16057-16082, November.
    16. Khan, Muhammad Tariq Iqbal & Yaseen, Muhammad Rizwan & Ali, Qamar, 2019. "Nexus between financial development, tourism, renewable energy, and greenhouse gas emission in high-income countries: A continent-wise analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 293-310.
    17. Peter Pedroni, 1999. "Critical Values for Cointegration Tests in Heterogeneous Panels with Multiple Regressors," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 653-670, November.
    18. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Vanessa Smith, L. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2013. "Panel unit root tests in the presence of a multifactor error structure," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 175(2), pages 94-115.
    19. Guariglia, Alessandra & Poncet, Sandra, 2008. "Could financial distortions be no impediment to economic growth after all? Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 633-657, December.
    20. Qi, Haozhi & Huang, Xucheng & Sheeraz, Muhammad, 2023. "Green financing for renewable energy development: Driving the attainment of zero-emission targets," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 30-37.
    21. Kammerer, Daniel, 2009. "The effects of customer benefit and regulation on environmental product innovation.: Empirical evidence from appliance manufacturers in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(8-9), pages 2285-2295, June.
    22. Sharif, Arshian & Mishra, Shekhar & Sinha, Avik & Jiao, Zhilun & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Afshan, Sahar, 2020. "The renewable energy consumption-environmental degradation nexus in Top-10 polluted countries: Fresh insights from quantile-on-quantile regression approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 670-690.
    23. Andreas E. Fousteris & Eleni A. Didaskalou & Markos-Marios H. Tsogas & Dimitrios A. Georgakellos, 2018. "The Environmental Strategy of Businesses as an Option under Recession in Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, November.
    24. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    25. repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:0:p:653-70 is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Du, Ling & Jiang, Hua & Adebayo, Tomiwa Sunday & Awosusi, Abraham Ayobamiji & Razzaq, Asif, 2022. "Asymmetric effects of high-tech industry and renewable energy on consumption-based carbon emissions in MINT countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 1269-1280.
    27. Kuang, Hewu & Akmal, Zeeshan & Li, Feifei, 2022. "Measuring the effects of green technology innovations and renewable energy investment for reducing carbon emissions in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 1-10.
    28. Festus Victor Bekun, 2022. "Mitigating Emissions in India: Accounting for the Role of Real Income, Renewable Energy Consumption and Investment in Energy," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(1), pages 188-192.
    29. Ahmad, Najid & Youjin, Liu & Žiković, Saša & Belyaeva, Zhanna, 2023. "The effects of technological innovation on sustainable development and environmental degradation: Evidence from China," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    30. Debbie Millard, 2011. "Management Learning and the Greening of SMEs: Moving beyond Problem-solving," Zeitschrift fuer Personalforschung. German Journal of Research in Human Resource Management, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 25(2), pages 178-195.
    31. Hunjra, Ahmed Imran & Hassan, M. Kabir & Zaied, Younes Ben & Managi, Shunsuke, 2023. "Nexus between green finance, environmental degradation, and sustainable development: Evidence from developing countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    32. Marlon Fernandes Rodrigues Alves & Simone Vasconcelos Ribeiro Galina & Silvio Dobelin, 2018. "Literature on organizational innovation: past and future," Innovation & Management Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(1), pages 2-19, March.
    33. Sun, Yunpeng & Guan, Weimin & Razzaq, Asif & Shahzad, Mohsin & Binh An, Nguyen, 2022. "Transition towards ecological sustainability through fiscal decentralization, renewable energy and green investment in OECD countries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 385-395.
    34. Jahanger, Atif & Usman, Muhammad & Murshed, Muntasir & Mahmood, Haider & Balsalobre-Lorente, Daniel, 2022. "The linkages between natural resources, human capital, globalization, economic growth, financial development, and ecological footprint: The moderating role of technological innovations," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    35. Shao, Yanmin & Chen, Zhongfei, 2022. "Can government subsidies promote the green technology innovation transformation? Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 716-727.
    36. Rafael E. De Hoyos & Vasilis Sarafidis, 2006. "Testing for cross-sectional dependence in panel-data models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 6(4), pages 482-496, December.
    37. Tamazian, Artur & Chousa, Juan Piñeiro & Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya, 2009. "Does higher economic and financial development lead to environmental degradation: Evidence from BRIC countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 246-253, January.
    38. Wang, Fayuan & Wang, Rong & He, Zhili, 2021. "The impact of environmental pollution and green finance on the high-quality development of energy based on spatial Dubin model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    39. Adedoyin, Festus Fatai & Ozturk, Ilhan & Agboola, Mary Oluwatoyin & Agboola, Phillips O. & Bekun, Festus Victor, 2021. "The implications of renewable and non-renewable energy generating in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of economic policy uncertainties," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    40. Zakari, Abdulrasheed & Khan, Irfan & Tan, Duojiao & Alvarado, Rafael & Dagar, Vishal, 2022. "Energy efficiency and sustainable development goals (SDGs)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PE).
    41. Fang, Zhenming & Kong, Xiaoran & Sensoy, Ahmet & Cui, Xin & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Government’s awareness of Environmental protection and corporate green innovation: A natural experiment from the new environmental protection law in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 294-312.
    42. Mingliang Zhao & Fangyi Liu & Yingjie Song & Jiangbo Geng, 2020. "Impact of Air Pollution Regulation and Technological Investment on Sustainable Development of Green Economy in Eastern China: Empirical Analysis with Panel Data Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-18, April.
    43. Jason Hickel, 2019. "The contradiction of the sustainable development goals: Growth versus ecology on a finite planet," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(5), pages 873-884, September.
    44. C. Katrakilidis & I. Kyritsis & V. Patsika, 2016. "The dynamic linkages between economic growth, environmental quality and health in Greece," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(3), pages 217-221, February.
    45. Xi Chen & Zhigang Chen, 2021. "Can Green Finance Development Reduce Carbon Emissions? Empirical Evidence from 30 Chinese Provinces," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, November.
    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. Alvarado, Rafael & Murshed, Muntasir & Cifuentes-Faura, Javier & Işık, Cem & Razib Hossain, Mohammad & Tillaguango, Brayan, 2023. "Nexuses between rent of natural resources, economic complexity, and technological innovation: The roles of GDP, human capital and civil liberties," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    2. Wang, Quan-Jing & Wang, Hai-Jie & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Environmental performance, green finance and green innovation: What's the long-run relationships among variables?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    3. Anu, & Singh, Amit Kumar & Raza, Syed Ali & Nakonieczny, Joanna & Shahzad, Umer, 2023. "Role of financial inclusion, green innovation, and energy efficiency for environmental performance? Evidence from developed and emerging economies in the lens of sustainable development," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 213-224.
    4. Tenaw, Dagmawe, 2025. "The dynamics of green energy, energy efficiency, economic productivity, and energy-driven emissions in SDG context: Is there a synergistic interplay?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    5. Xia, Aiming & Liu, Qing, 2024. "Modelling the asymmetric impact of fintech, natural resources, and environmental regulations on ecological footprint in G7 countries," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    6. Chen, Jie & Huang, Shoujun & Kamran, Hafiz Waqas, 2023. "Empowering sustainability practices through energy transition for sustainable development goal 7: The role of energy patents and natural resources among European Union economies through advanced panel," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Omri, Anis, 2018. "Entrepreneurship, sectoral outputs and environmental improvement: International evidence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 46-55.
    8. Delwar Hossain, 2014. "Differential Impacts of Foreign Capital and Remittance Inflows on Domestic Savings in the Developing Countries: A Dynamic Heterogeneous Panel Analysis," Departmental Working Papers 2014-07, The Australian National University, Arndt-Corden Department of Economics.
    9. Mohsin Shabir, 2024. "Does Financial Inclusion Promote Environmental Sustainability: Analyzing the Role of Technological Innovation and Economic Globalization," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 19-46, March.
    10. Ammar Al-Zubairi & Aseer AL-Akheli & Barakat ELfarra, 2025. "The impact of financial development, renewable energy and political stability on carbon emissions: sustainable development prospective for arab economies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(7), pages 15251-15273, July.
    11. He, Junming & Iqbal, Wasim & Su, Fangli, 2023. "Nexus between renewable energy investment, green finance, and sustainable development: Role of industrial structure and technical innovations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 715-724.
    12. Adel Ben Youssef & Mounir Dahmani, 2024. "Assessing the Impact of Digitalization, Tax Revenues, and Energy Resource Capacity on Environmental Quality: Fresh Evidence from CS-ARDL in the EKC Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(2), pages 1-23, January.
    13. Aytun, Cengiz & Erdogan, Sinan & Pata, Ugur Korkut & Cengiz, Orhan, 2024. "Associating environmental quality, human capital, financial development and technological innovation in 19 middle-income countries: A disaggregated ecological footprint approach," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    14. Bright Akwasi Gyamfi & Asiedu B. Ampomah & Festus V. Bekun & Simplice A. Asongu, 2022. "Can information and communication technology and institutional quality help mitigate climate change in E7 economies? An environmental Kuznets curve extension," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, December.
    15. Eberhardt, Markus & Teal, Francis, 2008. "Modeling technology and technological change in manufacturing: how do countries differ?," MPRA Paper 10690, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Luo, Shunjun & Mabrouk, Fatma, 2022. "Nexus between natural resources, globalization and ecological sustainability in resource-rich countries: Dynamic role of green technology and environmental regulation," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Li, Jing & Khan, Irfan, 2024. "Transition to a sustainable energy balance and conversion factors in economic management: Basics for transitioning to a low-carbon economy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    18. Zi Hui Yin & Wei Ping Zeng, 2024. "Path to sustainable development: Can industrial intelligence and technological innovation balance economic growth and environmental quality in China?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 4486-4504, October.
    19. Saidi, Hichem & El Montasser, Ghassen & Ajmi, Noomen, 2018. "Renewable Energy, Quality of Institutions and Economic Growth in MENA Countries: a Panel Cointegration Approach," MPRA Paper 84055, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Xinhui Dong & Ridwan Lanre Ibrahim & Ilhan Ozturk & Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh Al‐Faryan, 2024. "Exploring the roles of natural resources on sustainability blueprint in G7 countries amidst green energy, technological innovation, and carbon‐tax intervention," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(1), pages 120-153, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

    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:spr:endesu:v:27:y:2025:i:8:d:10.1007_s10668-024-04662-x. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.