Today, the world is confronted with the issue of environmental pollution as a result of our dependence on fossil fuels for our energy needs. Developed and developing countries are therefore adopting different strategies to curb environmental problems. This work is thus designed to probe the effect of renewable energy (RE), information and communication technologies (ICT), government stability, and GDP on ecological footprints (EF) in G11 nations. We utilized the annual data from 1990–2020 and applied robust methodologies to present the findings. The CS-ARDL method shows that renewable energy, ICT, and government stability are essential factors in lowering environmental pollution in G11 countries. Therefore, in light of the findings, this work suggests an increase in the use of RE sources such as solar, wind, and hydropower in the total energy mix of the various countries. RE usage improves air quality and saves the natural environment from further destruction. The countries also need to enhance their communication technologies in the economic sector. Moreover, policymakers must also introduce the required policies that would promote the use of RE in various countries. This will make people adopt clean energy sources at the domestic and commercial levels.

Global environmental issues such as environmental degradation, climate change, and global warming have posed a threat to the global economy, including Pakistan. The primary source of these problems is greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions are the result of human activity. The objective of the study was to investigate the symmetric and asymmetric relationship between globalization and greenhouse gas emissions in Pakistan. The ARDL modern econometric techniques of the time series model were used. Firstly, the stationarity test favors the use of the ARDL model in this study. The BDS test result confirmed that the ARDL model has a non-linearity issue. As a result, the ARDL approach was used to test both the symmetric and asymmetric effect. The results of the asymmetric ARDL model are more robust and reliable than those of the symmetric ARDL model. According to the results of the symmetric ARDL, economic, social, and political globalization have a positive relationship with greenhouse gas emissions in both the short and long run. Furthermore, the long-run results of the asymmetric ARDL model show that positive and negative shocks of economic and political globalization have positive and negative shock effects on greenhouse gas emissions. In the long run, however, the positive shock of social globalization has a negative relationship with greenhouse gas emissions. According to the results of impulse response functions, economic globalization has a significantly more relationship with greenhouse gas emissions than social and political globalization. A policy should be developed that allows only the positive effects of globalization while prohibiting the negative effects of globalization.

To pursue sustainable development, it is crucial to explore and prioritize economic growth and environmental protection. Global competitiveness is central to sustainable development in the complex relationship between economic growth and environmental protection. Analyzing the data of 121 countries, both developed (37) and developing (84), from 1995 to 2019, this study examines how economic fitness impacts environmental sustainability. The findings revealed that nations with higher economic fitness (0.038; -0.054) tend to have lower emissions, which is consistent with the EKC pattern, whereas increased capital investments (b = 0.137) and low consumption of renewable energy (b = -0.049) are linked with higher CO2 emissions. Similarly, the study findings highlighted the crucial role of economic fitness and the complexities of its relationship with environmental outcomes across different country groups. Moreover, the turning point for the overall sample of countries where the EKC starts to decline occurs at $63211.89 GDP per capita for high economic fitness, and for low economic fitness, it is $66070.98. Similarly, the turning points in the relationship between GDP per capita and environmental quality vary significantly between developed and developing countries. Therefore, nations with higher economic fitness experienced environmental improvements at lower GDP per capita levels in both groups of countries. This trend is particularly pronounced in developing countries, where nations with high economic fitness have demonstrated earlier improvements. In conclusion, this study contributes significantly to the understanding of the complex interplay between economic fitness and ecological sustainability.