Fintech, natural resource rents, renewable energy consumption and environmental quality: A perspective of green economic recovery from BRICS economies

Abstract

The concerns related to environmental problems result in new technological and financial trends. In this context, fintech has come up as a substitute which happens to strike a balance economic growth and environmental sustainability that is particularly aimed by government, international communities and organizations. Furthermore, natural resource-abundant economies experience adverse environmental issues that would further necessitate the economies to find out the credible solution. Thus, against the backdrop, we explore the linear (symmetric) and non-linear (asymmetric) associations among variables such as consumption of renewable energies (CRE), natural resource rents (NRR), environmental policy implication (EPI), and Financials technologies (FTech) from the perspective of BRICS economies. Over the period from 2016 to 2023, the study applies CS-ARDL and NARDL models to explore the possible linearity and non-linearity of associations. We find that Fintech and NRR enhance economic recovery but deteriorate the environmental quality. However, strict environmental policy implications reduce economic growth and enhance climate quality. Finally, consumption of renewable energies contributes to higher economic growth and better environmental quality.