This study develops a theoretical framework to quantify the impacts of technological progress, renewable energy consumption and international trade on carbon emissions (CO₂), unlike many other studies that consider variables of interest in an ad hoc manner. The developed framework is then applied to the data from the BRICS countries for 1990–2017 period. The study also takes into consideration the integration, co‐integration, as well as cross‐country interdependence and heterogeneity properties of the panel data, and hence, the obtained results are robust and policy insights are well‐grounded. We estimate that technological progress, renewable energy consumption, and export size contribute to the reduction of the CO₂ emissions, while gross domestic product (GDP) and import size increase the pollution both in the long‐ and short‐run. Our main policy recommendations would be the implementations of the measures, regulations, and establishment of the legislative frameworks that foster the technological enhancements and transition toward sustainable energy.

The evaluation of the contribution of consumption-based carbon (CBCO₂) emissions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is crucially important for the design of sustainable environmental policies. Despite its importance, attention to the discussion of the role of environment-related technologies (ERT) in abating CBCO₂ emission is limited. The role of ERT and renewable energy in reducing carbon emissions is investigated in a panel of seven emerging economies during 1990–2016 in the ‘Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC)’ framework. Cross-sectional dependence test, CIPS unit root test, Westerlund co-integration, and cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributive lag econometric techniques are employed to support the propositions. Findings suggest the supportive role of environment-related technologies in the presence of renewable energy in reducing carbon emissions. However, GDP growth is substantially worsening the environment. The findings indicate the need to increase investment in environment-related technologies by the E-7 economies for a sustainable reduction in CB CO₂ emissions.