Global warming is mainly influenced by factors such as energy consumption, human development, and economic activities, but there is no consensus among researchers and there is relatively little research literature on less developed countries. Therefore, this study attempts to explore the impact of renewable energy consumption, human development and economic growth on climate change from a macroeconomic perspective for 105 countries worldwide over the period 1990–2019 by constructing a panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model and using generalized method of moments (GMM) and panel impulse response analysis. The analysis includes four panels of high-income, upper-middle-income, lower-middle-income, and low-income countries. The results of the study find that economic growth, FDI, trade openness, industrialization, renewable energy consumption and HDI have different impacts on climate change (CO₂ emissions) in different regions during the sample period. Specifically, in the four panels, economic growth, industrialization, FDI, and trade openness all play a varied role in aggravating environmental pollution (CO₂ emissions). In high-income and upper-middle-income countries, industrialization has a positive effect on CO₂ emissions, while FDI has a negative impact, which supports the pollution halo hypothesis. However, both have a positive impact on CO₂ emissions in lower-middle-income and low-income countries. The results also found that except for upper-middle-income countries, trade openness and renewable energy consumption help reduce CO₂ emissions, while renewable energy consumption has little effect on suppressing CO₂ emissions in low-income countries. In addition, HDI has promoted CO₂ emissions in upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income countries, but has curbed CO₂ emissions in high-income countries. Therefore, under the premise of not affecting economic growth and HDI, those empirical results will not only help decision-makers formulate appropriate renewable energy policies, but also are of great significance to the realization of a healthy and sustainable global environment.

As Industry 4.0 is seen as the core industrial stage for achieving sustainable development, more and more scholars are exploring the practical effects of Industry 4.0. This paper evaluates the impact of digital transformation on business sustainability, explores whether digital transformation breaks down perceptions, and examines the mechanisms by which it works. First, we measured the digital transformation of each firm using textual analysis. and found that the coefficient of digital transformation is 0.006 on corporate sustainability at the 1% significant level. Secondly, we found that digital transformation eases knowledge flow barriers and makes knowledge more accessible to firms. Firms with higher digital transformation attract more skilled people, which can create talent barriers. Digital transformation can exacerbate firms’ industry monopolies, while increasing the proportion of boardroom women and the inclusion of older members sends positive signals to outsiders. Finally, we find that low costs, high labor productivity, high innovation and low cost of sales are important channels for digital transformation. In addition, digital transformation increases the management costs of firms.

Government intervention is increasingly vital due to the dual externalities of green innovation. We explored the relationship between tax incentives, subsidies, and green innovation. Based on data from Chinese listed companies from 2010 to 2019, we developed an evaluation system for corporate green innovation. First, we find that tax incentives promote corporate green innovation, while subsidies have little effect on green innovation. Second, we find that financing constraints are the main path of influence of tax incentives. Also, subsidies reverse the positive impact of tax incentives. Third, we further explore the heterogeneity of firms. We find that tax incentives and subsidies only impact green innovation by state-owned enterprises, monopolies, and small and medium-sized enterprises. We hope to provide new theoretical insights into intervention policy improvements and corporate green innovation in developing countries such as China.