Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions have been the key source of extreme environmental degradation and have an adverse impact on climate and human activities. Although a large number of studies have explored the determinants of CO₂ emissions, the role of institutional quality has not been fully studied. Our study contributes to the existing literature by examining the influence of financial development, institutional quality, foreign direct investment, trade openness, urbanization, and renewable energy consumption on CO₂ emissions over the period 1996–2020 by utilizing the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulations. The empirical findings of the study indicate that the indicators of governance, trade, financial development, and renewable energy consumption adversely affect CO₂ emissions, while urbanization and foreign direct investment contribute to environmental degradation. The empirical results of this study indicate that in order to mitigate environmental degradation and to achieve environmental sustainability, the government should establish consistency between environmental and economic policies. Moreover, in order to achieve low carbon emissions and sustainable development, countries need viable financial institutions that focus on green growth by promoting clean production process strategies to ensure the reduction of CO₂ emissions.

Green investment in sustainable energy can overcome the dependence on fossil fuels worldwide. Renewable energy policies have become the key issue in both developing and developed countries; there is a need to focus on energy-related policies by regulatory authorities of these countries. The current study critically analyzes the performance of the existing renewable energy policy instruments to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) for solar energy development in Pakistan. We evaluate the moderating role of good governance and financial support between the nexus of renewable energy policy instruments and green FDI for the sustainable development of solar energy in the country. The present study used non-probability (purposive) sampling to collect data from 43 respondents (private investors, government officials, energy experts, and policymakers) by conveying an energy policy-related questionnaire survey. The response rate was 82.69%. The study has used partial least squares structural equation modeling to assess formulated hypotheses. The results indicate that the feed-in tariffs is the most effective policy instrument to attract FDI in the country’s solar energy sector. The fiscal measures positively impact the green FDI for solar energy. The results further reveal that good governance and financial support positively and significantly moderate the nexus of renewable energy policy instruments and green FDI for solar energy. The main barriers have been identified over the whole solar energy spectrum. The study findings provide essential policy recommendations and a considerable manual for energy-related regulators, policymakers, and government institutions to adopt advanced renewable energy policy instruments to attract FDI in Pakistan.

Better socioeconomic status and well-being in households decrease malnutrition and health risks in children. The objective of the present study is to assess the current nutritional status of pre-school children and to correlate the prevalence of malnutrition with Household Deprivation Status (HDS) in one of the deprived districts of the Punjab province in Pakistan. Using primary data collected from 384 households through a proportional purposive random sampling technique, this study calculates the z-scores of weight-for-age (WAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ), and height-for-age (HAZ). The study has used a cut-off point which is -2 standard deviations below the median of the WHO/NCHS reference population for each anthropometric indicator. The results indicate that the underweight, stunting, and wasting prevalence rates are 46.1%, 34.83%, and 15.49% respectively in district Rahimyar Khan. Also, the expected tendency of malnutrition is worst for HDS-1 and HDS-2 which are the most deprived segments of the population. As the household shifts from HDS-1 to HDS-2 and further to HDS-3, the rates of stunting (HAZ) and underweight (WAZ) decreases but wasting (WHZ) does not. The study concludes that the high prevalence of malnutrition in the district is correlated with overall socio-economic deprivation.

Our study explores the impact of financialization on carbon emissions by utilizing diverse financialization proxies, particularly for China. We examine the impact of financialization, institutional quality, globalization, natural resources, trade openness, and renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption on environmental pollution over the period 1996–2017 by utilizing dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulations. The empirical findings of the study indicate that institutional quality, trade, globalization, natural resources, and renewable energy consumption significantly decrease environmental pollution in the long run, while foreign direct investment and financialization have neutral effects on carbon emissions. Our findings demonstrate that a 1% increase in institutional quality, trade, IFDI, renewable energy, and globalization leads to a decrease in CO2 emissions by 0.198, 0.016, 0.075, 0.010, and 0.072%, respectively. Even though financialization indexes contributed insignificantly to environmental degradation, other explanatory variables significantly affected carbon emissions through indirect effects of financialization. Financialization indexes behave in a similar context, and these proxy indicators are good parameters to understand the complex nature of financialization. Moreover, in order to achieve low carbon emissions and sustainable development, countries need viable financial institutions that focus on green growth by promoting clean production process strategies to ensure the reduction of CO₂ emissions.