Empowering Green Transitions: Analysing the Role of Governance, Technological Factors, Resource Wealth and Urbanisation on Renewable Energy Consumption in <scp>BRICS</scp> Nations

ABSTRACT Despite growing research on renewable energy transitions, limited studies examine the combined role of governance, technological capacity, structural factors, and resource dependence within a unified framework for emerging economies. This study provides an in‐depth, multifaceted analysis of the intricate relationship between governance quality, technological innovation, techno‐export power, energy use, natural resource wealth, urbanisation, and renewable energy consumption (REC) across the BRICS countries. By considering panel data spanning 1996 to 2023 and carrying out the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) and Canay's (2011, The Econometrics Journal 14, 3: 368–386) two‐step quantile regression, the study considers heterogeneous impacts of key determinants at different levels of REC, demonstrating that the effects of essential drivers differ largely at various levels across the nations. Governance, technological innovation, techno‐export power, and urbanisation are significant positive but uneven contributors, while resource rents and energy use highlight key trade‐offs between development and sustainability. Econometric tests validate the dire need for advanced techniques such as the MMQR, and the findings provide useful implications relevant to SDGs 7, 9, 11, and 13. The study also provides pragmatic, evidence‐based policy advice for green energy transitions in developing economies, thereby contributing to ongoing global climate policy dialogues, especially during COP29.