Mineral resource volatility and green growth: The role of technological development, environmental policy stringency, and trade openness

Abstract

While natural resources significantly contribute to global socio-economic development, the unresolved question of their volatility's role in decoupling economic growth and carbon emissions persists. Previous empirical studies have underscored both positive and negative impacts of natural resource exploration on economic growth and the environment. This study addresses the knowledge gap by employing a linear non-linear panel ARDL framework to investigate the correlation between natural re source volatility and sustainable development in the BRICS economies. Our key findings reveal that natural resource volatility adversely impacts green growth within the linear model in both the short and long run. Conversely, in the non-linear model, an increase in natural resource volatility negatively influences green growth, whereas a decrease encourages green growth, albeit only in the long run. Moreover, we found that technological development, stringent environmental policies, and trade openness are conducive to green growth. These results underscore the necessity for managing natural resource volatility to foster sustainable development, particularly in emerging BRICS economies.