Toward environmental sustainability: Is responsible consumption and production of natural resources amid green energy, green technology, and green finance achievable?

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AbstractThe relentless devastating impacts of global warming and other climate change effects leading to incessant ecological damages have compelled governments across the globe to rethink the pattern of natural resource depletion. This has motivated policymakers, governments, international organizations, and research pundits alike to advocate for a transition to sustainable consumption and production of natural resources. Consequently, there is a growing call for sustainable production and consumption practices, as outlined in Sustainable Development Goal 12 (SDG‐12). This research probes how natural resource production and consumption facilitate or hinder environmental sustainability in G7 economies from 1996 to 2020. The empirical evidence incorporates green energy, green technology, green finance, environmental tax, financial development, economic growth, and population as control variables within the STIRPAT theoretical framework. Second‐generation estimating techniques are utilized for empirical verification. An outstanding contribution of this study among others is the estimation of the moderating effects of green energy in mitigating the ensuing impact of natural resources on environmental sustainability. The results indicate that both production and consumption of natural resources, particularly coal and oil negatively affect environmental sustainability. Furthermore, green technology, energy, and finance as well as environmental tax are found to play a crucial role in promoting environmental sustainability. Green technology plays significant part in subduing the deteriorating effects of natural resources on the ecosystem. The robustness analyses further buttress the main analyses. Policy recommendations are proposed based on the empirical results.