Do natural resources utilization and economic development reduce greenhouse gas emissions through consuming renewable and Clean Technology? A case study of China towards sustainable development goals

Abstract

China's economy has been slowing down over the past decade after decades of rapid expansion due to demographic challenges and a precipitous drop in productivity growth. Thus, rising economic imbalances constitute a significant drag on China's economy's potential for expansion. Thus, understanding the forces and reducing the imbalance between development and ecology is imperative. For this purpose, the present study is conducted to ascertain the role of Natural Resources (NTR), Economic development (ECD), Renewable Energy (REN), and Clean Technology (TEC) on Greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) through a cutting-edge timeseries estimation technique of a Quantile Autoregressive Distribution Lag (QARDL). The reported results revealed the positive relationships of NTR and ECD with GHG, whereas REN and TEC are found to reduce the level of GHG. Based on the findings and the declining trend in the growth of the Chinese economy, it is recommended to take sustainable initiatives to balance the imbalance between ecology and development sustainably.