Natural resources management efficiency: The role of green innovation for digital government

Abstract

Natural resource management efficiency is currently one of the key issues that policy makers are trying to address via digital government efficiency. To address the challenges of ecological degradation, this research scrutinizes the nexus of green innovation and CO2 emissions in Saudi Arabia from 1990 to 2022. It also incorporated the role of financial development (FD), economic expansion (GDP), renewable energy consumption (REC), and oil revenue (ORNT). Moreover, pertinent time-series practices include ADF with structural breaks to find the covariates of static at level or first difference and the Johansen equilibrium test for long-run equilibrium during the least squares method with structural breaks as a primary method in the study. For robustness, the research included simple quantile regression to check the outcomes in both settings of the techniques. The results show that the covariates are static at the first difference and that long-run equilibrium exists among the variables. Moreover, the empirical outcomes reveal that FD and GDP increase CO2 emissions despite the structural breaks applied in the research. Moreover, green innovation has a significant negative influence on CO2 emissions in both models with and without the role of income. It is suggested that emerging economies increase investments in renewable technologies and green energy to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and increase environmental sustainability. Moreover, REC has a significant and negative influence on CO2 emissions, while ORNT has a positive but weak influence on CO2 emissions in both models. The robustness protocols provide similar and robust outcomes because oil revenues are a curse for CO2 emissions in the upper quantiles. Ultimately, enhancing green innovation, increasing the utilization of renewable energy, and effectively managing financial resources, natural assets, and sustainable economic growth can serve as the foundation for bolstering environmental sustainability.