Amidst pressing global environmental challenges, exacerbated by climate change and the imminent threat of global warming, there is a critical need to assess the efficacy of environmental policies. This study centers its attention on the pivotal role of these policies in addressing environmental concerns. Specifically, our research aims to scrutinize the impact of stringent environmental policies on environmental quality under the theoretical underpinnings of environmental Kuznets curve. To achieve this objective, the study collected data from BRICS-T economies over the period of 1990-2020. This study employed the method of moments quantile regression technique for empirical analysis. Our study validates the presence of the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC hypothesis). Empirical findings reveal the sustained significance of environmental stringency across all quantiles, demonstrating a positive correlation in lower quantiles and a negative correlation in higher quantiles. At lower quantiles, the impact is insignificant initially, but pronounced due to efficiency improvements induced by stringent policies. The effects became negative at middle quantiles, indicating stringent policies might encounter diminishing returns where policy measures start stabilizing ecological impacts. At higher quantiles, the influence of ESI remains significant, reflecting ongoing adaptations in larger economies with higher ecological footprints. This suggests the potential effectiveness of stringent regulatory measures in mitigating environmental impacts and reducing ecological footprints. The identified inverted U-shaped curve signifies that while stringent policies may not inherently enhance environmental health, beyond a certain threshold, they can indeed contribute to its improvement. Our policy recommendation advocates for the widespread adoption and promotion of such stringent measures to safeguard environmental health.

This study delves into the intricate relationship between economic growth and its ecological repercussions, employing a comprehensive assessment of ecological footprint across 131 nations. The time period considered for the research spans from 2009 to 2019. Utilizing the CS-ARDL methodology, the results indicate a correlation between reducing ecological footprint and bolstering private sector domestic credit. Additionally, a relationship between diminishing private sector domestic credit of banks and augmenting private sector domestic credit within the financial sector has been identified. In conjunction with other indicators of financial advancement, the significance of domestic lending to the private sector has been underscored. The study reveals a notable reduction in human population\'s adverse impact on the environment. However, increased levels of energy consumption, foreign direct investment and per capita GDP are associated with an improvement in global quality of life. Particularly noteworthy is the validation of the \"pollution haven hypothesis\" in the global economic context. The implications of this research are substantial; suggesting that global economic dynamics may support efforts towards environmental conservation. However, outcomes may vary across regions or countries, particularly regarding the emphasis placed by the financial sector on environmental preservation. This study comprehensively examines the complex nexus between economic progress and its ecological consequences, keeping in consideration factors such as financial growth, urbanization, energy consumption and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

BACKGROUND: Various factors have been found responsible for the increment in ecological footprint resulting difficulties in maintaining environmental sustainability. This has been noticed through a modeling perspective. Identifying the factors affecting Ecological Footprint helps policymakers to formulate policies regarding sustainability. However, studies conducted based upon systematic reviews on Ecological Footprint through modeling are still limited.
OBJECTIVE: This study intends to identify influential factors associated with ecological footprint through a systematic review.
METHODS: ProQuest, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were used to search literature systematically. Particular keywords and Boolean operators were applied to dig out relevant studies for the review. Peer-reviewed research articles published in the English language till September 13, 2023, were incorporated for the analysis. Following the guidelines of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA), 1011 articles were identified from four different databases and only 37 research papers were eligible for this study. These articles were assessed and relevant information was extracted and then amalgamated into the systematic review.
RESULTS: Gross domestic product, urbanization, energy consumption, renewable energy, non-renewable energy, natural resources, bio-capacity, human capital, foreign direct investment, trade openness, and financial development were observed as key factors of the ecological footprint.
CONCLUSIONS: Factors known to influence ecological footprint need to be addressed properly for environmental sustainability including widespread use of renewable energy.

In this paper, the ecological footprint model is used to analyze the ecological carrying capacity of resource-based cities, and the ecological profit and loss state is calculated to evaluate their sustainable development ability. Taking Zigong City of Sichuan Province as an example, Research has shown that the ecological carrying capacity of Zigong City has been increasing year by year from 2006 to 2012 and from 2015 to 2021. There was a sharp decline from 2013 to 2014. The ecological and economic diversity index and the development capacity of the ecological and economic system showed an upward trend from 2006 to 2021. However, from 2006 to 2020, the ecological sustainable development index of Zigong City was below 0.2, indicating a serious unsustainable state. In 2021, it was in a moderately unsustainable state. According to the protection of cultivated land resources, forest resources, grassland resources, water resources, energy utilization and building land involved in Zigong City\'s sustainable development ability, the corresponding suggestions are put forward.Considering the economic, environmental and social aspects, this paper propose a path for sustainable development ability of resource-based cities.

The escalating phenomenon of environmental degradation is an urgent global concern, imperiling ecosystems and hindering the prospects for sustainable development on a planetary scale. Therefore, this study aims to explore the intricate interplay between renewable energy (RE) and ecological footprint (EF), considering the conditional impact of fiscal capacity (FIC), human development (HDI), institutional quality (IQI), and population density (PDN). Drawing on panel data encompassing 74 developing countries from 2000 to 2022, the study employs a dynamic panel threshold regression method, both with and without an instrumental variable approach. The findings unveil a non-linear nexus between RE and EF, revealing significant threshold values for FIC (1.870), HDI (0.736), and IQI (0.311), above which RE showcases its efficacy in mitigating EF. Conversely, when these predictors dip below the thresholds of FIC (1.391), HDI (0.655), and IQI (0.2545), the impact of RE on FE becomes insignificant. Moreover, the study introduces PDN as an additional threshold variable in the analysis, pinpointing that the effectiveness of RE in reducing EF hinges on PDN being below a threshold value of 263.144; however, above a threshold value of 276.98, the influence of PDN on the RE-FE nexus diminishes. The findings underscore the complexity of policy landscapes in developing countries. They suggest that while promoting renewable energy is pivotal for environmental sustainability, it is equally imperative to bolster existing environmentally friendly fiscal capacity, advance human capital, enhance institutional quality, and craft effective population distribution policies.

The significance of accurate energy production prediction cannot be overstated, especially in the context of achieving carbon neutrality and balancing traditional and clean energy sources. Unlike conventional models with simplified assumptions or limited data inputs hindering energy usage optimization, waste reduction and efficient resource allocation, we introduced a novel structural equation modelling approach to eight manufacturing industries\' sustainable waste management practices (SWMPs) in Iraq. This comprehensive analysis, conducted with Smart PLS software on 375 responses aims to enhance energy production predictions\' accuracy and support sustainability goals contribute to achieving carbon neutrality goals and promote a balanced energy mix that supports sustainability and environmental stewardship. The findings reveal noteworthy insights: notably, chemical manufacturing companies exhibit a substantial advantage from green accounting practices, witnessing a 78.1 % and 45.8 % improvement in environmental auditing oversight and SWMPs, respectively, compared to other manufacturing sectors. Compared to conventional grey models, our model demonstrates that a 1-unit improvement in CSR enhances environmental auditing oversight effectiveness by 33.4 % and sustainable waste management by 56.9 % across industries. By leveraging these data-driven insights and innovative approaches, we can drive positive change towards a more sustainable and resilient energy future, collectively contributing to a more resilient, efficient, and sustainable energy ecosystem that benefits societies, economies, and the environment. The heightened accuracy of energy production prediction facilitated by our novel model empowers stakeholders at regional and global levels to make informed decisions, mitigate risks, support policy development, achieve sustainability goals, formulate effective policies and foster collaboration.

Increasing energy vulnerability can cause environmental pollution by increasing fossil fuel consumption. If it leads to cost-cutting-oriented industry growth, financial development can lead to environmental regulations being ignored, compromising environmental quality. Political globalization and economic growth can increase short-term environmental pressures, straining long-term ecological balance and causing habitat loss and pollution. This study investigates the impact of energy vulnerability, financial development, and political globalization on environmental sustainability in Turkey for the 2000-2019 period using with wavelet quantile-based techniques. According to results, while the negative effect of energy vulnerability on environmental quality is lower in the short term, the size of the effect increases in the medium and long term. In addition, at low quantiles of environmental quality, the negative effect of financial development is low in the short and long term, while the effect becomes evident in the long term. Moreover, the effects of political globalization on environmental quality are positive in all quantiles. Additionally, the harmful effects of economic growth are more evident at lower quantiles of environmental quality. Turkey should increase its clean energy investments by using its geographically advantageous location. Policymakers should also prioritize environmental regulations and promote sustainable practices in industries. Incentives for cleaner production technologies and environmentally friendly initiatives can help steer the financial sector towards more responsible and environmentally friendly practices. Additionally, the study suggests that increasing institutional capacity and aligning national policies with international agreements can accelerate the positive effects of political globalization.

Green growth is of great importance in terms of solving environmental problems and achieving sustainable development goals. However, the existing literature has not investigated how green growth affects environmental degradation and environmental sustainability variables. In light of this gap, this study aims to analyse the impact of green growth and institutional quality on CO2 emissions, ecological footprint and inverse load capacity factor in OECD countries by constructing three different models. The results of the analysis indicate that (i) green growth exerts a significant mitigating and differentiating effect on CO2, ecological footprint and inverted load capacity factor in the long run. This is evidenced by a 1% increase in green growth reducing CO2, ecological footprint and inverted load capacity factor by 0.563%, 0.373% and 0.198%, respectively. (i) The impact of green growth on CO2 and inverted load capacity factor in the long run is negative and statistically significant; (ii) the impact of green growth on CO2 and inverted load capacity factor in the short run is negative and statistically significant; (iii) the impact of institutional quality on deterioration is positive and significant in the long run; (iv) the impact of population on deterioration and sustainability is significant and mixed. The findings indicate that decision-makers in OECD countries should review green energy policies when setting the sustainable development goals, as environmental sustainability is more challenging than reducing pollution.

This study employs Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares, Common Correlated Effects and Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality techniques to investigate the environmental impacts of nuclear energy generation in European Union countries from 1990 to 2022. The ongoing debate within the European Union and the empirical contradictions in the literature, coupled with the overall singular-dimensionality surrounding the impacts of nuclear energy on the environment, necessitate a broader and comprehensive examination of its effects across various environmental dimensions. These dimensions include the presence of CO2 emissions and the ecological footprint generated. The findings reveal that nuclear energy adoption by countries tends to affect CO2 emissions but this relationship goes from CO2 to nuclear energy consumption as per the causality test, while the ecological footprint variable does not exhibit a causal relationship with nuclear energy consumption. We estimated that a higher presence of air pollutants promotes the generation of nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuel energy sources. The study highlights that while nuclear energy generation produces no air pollution, it does impose significant land use requirements, potentially leading to ecosystem degradation. Factors such as uranium extraction, nuclear waste management, disposal, and accidents contribute to this impact. Further research is needed to understand the specific mechanisms and factors contributing to the observed environmental degradation associated with nuclear energy generation.

The effect of mineral production on ecological footprint is examined in this study while controlling for economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and trade openness as additional determinants for Pakistan. On the empirical front, the study uses the \"Dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (DYNARDL)\" simulations for the data collected between 1990 and 2021. The result portrays movement to the long-run equilibrium relationship when considering the ecological footprint as the outcome variable amidst mineral production, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and trade openness as the covariates. Further, the finding shows temporal dynamics of mineral production on environmental quality with a short-term degradation versus long-term amelioration, which suggests that mineral production can be conducted more sustainably over time with an implication towards taking measures such as technological advancements, improved efficiency, and better waste management practices. Additionally, it failed to find evidence for the conventional \"Environmental Kuznets Curve,\" implying a need for policy reevaluation, reassessment of economic development models and accounting for environmental externalities in economic decision-making. Besides, as expected, the outcome demonstrates that using renewable energy lowers the ecological footprint both in long and short terms, which indicates that utilization of renewable energy sources reduces reliance on fossil fuels, resulting in decreased environmental degradation, thereby fostering the need for emphasis on the importance of continued technological innovation in renewable energy technologies to reduce the ecological footprint further. Moreover, it shows that trade openness improves the environmental quality in the short run (worsens it in the long run), thereby highlighting that trade openness may lead to short-term environmental benefits by promoting cleaner technologies and increasing resource efficiency. However, in the long term, trade openness can exacerbate environmental degradation due to economic priorities often taking precedence over environmental concerns.