Green innovation and ecological footprint relationship for a sustainable development: Evidence from top 20 green innovator countries

KÖSEOĞLU A., YÜCEL A. G., ULUCAK R.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, cilt.30, sa.5, ss.976-988, 2022 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 30 Sayı: 5
  • Basım Tarihi: 2022
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1002/sd.2294
  • Dergi Adı: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, PASCAL, ABI/INFORM, Agricultural & Environmental Science Database, Aqualine, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), Business Source Elite, Business Source Premier, CAB Abstracts, Environment Index, Geobase, Greenfile, PAIS International, Political Science Complete, Pollution Abstracts, Public Affairs Index, Sociological abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, Civil Engineering Abstracts
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.976-988
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: ecological footprint, green innovation, panel data, renewable energy, sustainable development
  • Erciyes Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

The ecological pressure of humanity on the planet measured by ecological footprint has been enlarging, which upsurges environmental threats. At this point, green innovation emerges as an optimal solution to sustainable development which brings together economic growth and environmental protection. This paper explores the nexus between green innovation and ecological footprint for the case of the top 20 green innovator countries. As a comprehensive environmental sustainability indicator, the ecological footprint is employed to observe the environmental impacts of green innovation. We apply cross-sectional dependence tests, panel unit root tests and panel cointegration tests covering the period of 1993-2016. The results show that economic growth is the primary reason for environmental degradation while urbanization does not have a statistically significant effect. Renewable energy consumption has a moderating influence on ecological footprint. More importantly, environment-related technologies have a statistically significant effect on ecological footprint. Specifically, a 1% increase in environment-related technologies leads to a 0.129% decrease in ecological footprint. The findings of the study clearly demonstrate that it is possible to achieve economic growth while protecting the environment. The results of the study are expected to be motivating for countries' transition toward green innovation in that sustainable development can be achieved if countries invest in green innovation.