The effects of foreign Investment, resource utilization, and energy sources on ecological sustainability: evidence from BRICS-T nations

Global warming is intensifying, requiring immediate legislative interventions to mitigate increasing carbon emissions. Consequently, decarbonisation has emerged as a critical approach for countries seeking sustainable growth. This study analyses the advancement towards carbon neutrality in BRICS-T nations, emphasising the influence of foreign direct investment, natural resource rents, and energy sources (both renewable and non-renewable) from 1990 to 2020. The study used the Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag (CS-ARDL) model and panel causality analysis to investigate the long- and short-term dynamics among the variables. Empirical evidence indicates that foreign direct investment, natural resource rents, and economic complexity improve ecological quality, hence bolstering sustainability initiatives. Conversely, economic expansion and the consumption of non-renewable energy detrimentally influence the load capacity factor, indicating severe environmental consequences. The causality results indicate that all independent factors provide strong predictive potential regarding LF. The findings have significant policy implications for BRICS-T nations, highlighting the necessity for focused initiatives that encourage clean investments, optimise resource utilisation, and facilitate a shift to renewable energy to enhance ecological sustainability.