The increase in energy intensity and energy depletion may lead to faster depletion of natural resources and increased environmental impacts. The green energy transition can improve environmental quality by reducing the pressure on natural resources and the carbon footprint. At this point, public environmental regulations are significant for environmental sustainability. On the one hand, the environmental policy stringency imposes high environmental taxes on polluting activities and, on the other hand, provides R&D support to clean technologies. This study examines the impact of energy intensity, energy depletion, green energy transition, and environmental policy stringency on load capacity factor in G7 countries from 1990–2020 using common correlated effects mean group and augmented mean group panel long run estimators. The study's robust results show that i) energy intensity has a negative impact on environmental sustainability in Germany, Italy, and the USA, ii) energy depletion has a negative impact on environmental sustainability in Canada and France, and iii) green energy transition has a positive impact on environmental sustainability in Japan. G7 countries must reverse the adverse effects of energy intensity and energy depletion by accelerating the transition to green energy. These countries with significant fiscal capacity should use environmental policy instruments that include environmental taxes. Graphical abstract

Governance is the driving force for environmental policy. This study investigated the validity of the LCC and EKC hypotheses for France in the 1996–2020 period with government effectiveness and environmental policy stringency control variables. Fourier unit root, cointegration, long-term estimators, and causality tests were used in the study. The results of the study showed that both LCC and EKC hypotheses are valid for France. While government effectiveness negatively affects environmental sustainability, environmental policy strictness affects it positively. Finally, there is a unidirectional relationship from environmental governance to load capacity factor and ecological footprint, and there is bidirectional causality between environmental policy stringency and load capacity factor, while there is a unidirectional causality relationship from ecological footprint to environmental policy stringency. It is recommended that France review the governance elements and ensure environmental governance so that the positive impact of environmental policies is sustainable.