How can natural resource dependence, environmental-related technologies and digital trade protect the environment: Redesigning SDGs policies for sustainable environment?

Abstract

The worldwide community is seriously concerned about the shocking effects of climate change. In the Paris agreement, policymakers opted to mitigate worldwide emissions to a certain level, which raised considerable apprehension for the highest emitting countries. Numerous studies have investigated several indicators contributing to environmental sustainability, however limited research has focused on environmental-related technologies and the digital trade effect. Therefore, the current study inspects the nexus between environmental-related technologies, digital trade, natural resources, renewable energy use, and financial development on the carbon emissions in the top ten highest emitting countries from 2001 to 2021. This study confirms the existence of cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity by employing second-generation tests for robust results. In this regard, the empirical findings depict that environmental-related technologies and financial development significantly upsurge the ecological footprint. Conversely, digital trade, renewable energy use, and the abundance of natural resources mitigate the level of ecological footprint in the long-run. Moreover, the causality analysis empirically supports the connection constructed on unidirectional and bidirectional causalities. Finally, this study proposes policy insights on the basis of findings to promote eco-friendly technology, renewable energy projects, scientific mining techniques for natural resources, transition to cleaner energy sources (SDG-7), and developed countries should assist emerging economies with advanced clean technology to restore ample biocapacity with less ecological damages (COP-27).