Roles of natural resources, globalization, and technological innovations in mitigation of environmental degradation in BRI economies

Abstract

The environmental issue has become a global problem that needs to be examined frequently, motivating researchers to investigate it. Thus, the present study has investigated the asymmetric impact of natural resources, technological innovation, and globalization on the ecological footprint in the presence of environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) economies. This research divided the BRI economies into high income, middle-income, and low-income levels to capture income differences. The study has used annual time series data from 1990 to 2018. The study applied a novel Augmented Mean Group estimators method to calculate the robust and reliable outcomes. The findings show that natural resources drastically damage the environment quality, whereas technological innovations are helpful in reducing environmental degradation. Moreover, the result of the interaction term (natural resources and technological innovations) negatively impacts the ecological footprint. Interestingly, these findings are similar in the three income groups. In addition, globalization improves environmental quality in the middle-income BRI economies but reduces in high-income, low-income, and full sample countries. Furthermore, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) concept has been validated across all BRI economies. In line with these findings, several relevant policies are recommended for a sustainable environment in the BRI economies.