The nexus of sustainable practices application, biodiversity decline, and air pollution in BRI nations: the role of green innovation

ABSTRACT This research examines the impact of key environmental sustainability indicators, including renewable energy consumption, recycling rate (RR), carbon footprint, deforestation rate, and water scarcity (WS) on air pollution, which is measured by PM2.5 air pollution in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. Furthermore, this research explored the moderating effect of green innovation (GI) between the relationships. This study used GMM estimation on panel data of 20 BRI countries over 27 years from 1991 to 2018. The study finds that all five environmental variables significantly influence PM2.5 air pollution, though often in complex or counterintuitive ways. Notably, renewable energy consumption and RR negatively correlated with PM2.5 air pollution. Besides, carbon footprint, deforestation rate, and WS positively correlated with PM2.5 air pollution. The moderating role of GI was statistically substantial across all variables. It was associated with increased pollution, indicating implementation challenges. The findings underscore the context of environmental management in the emerging economies, which is slight and distinctly embedded in the context. This study is valuable for policymakers to implement an integrated form of intervention that promotes GI as well as addresses structural and regulatory loopholes. The results contribute to the discussion on sustainable development and environmental governance in emerging markets.