Pathways of sustainable energy entrepreneurship contributing to green innovation and the sustainable development goals

This study examines sustainable energy entrepreneurship (SEE) by exploring global patterns, drivers, and barriers that influence entrepreneurial journeys toward green innovation and societal impact. SEE research lacks an integrated, multi-theoretical, cross-context synthesis explaining how technical, institutional, social, gender, and resilience factors influence. This study addresses this gap with a first theory-informed, multi-dimensional synthesis that brings domains together. Through a structured, systematic literature review guided by PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) for document selection, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and thematic organization via the TCCM (Theory, Context, Characteristics, Methods) framework. The study applies the ADO (antecedent-decision-outcome) framework to propose future research directions. The results reveal five major themes: (1) institutional entrepreneurship and governance, (2) resilience to externalities, (3) gender and stakeholder inclusion, (4) technological innovations in energy systems, and (5) inclusive, adaptive business models. These are mapped to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 7 (enhancing energy access), SDG 5 (gender equality through women’s empowerment), SDG 9 (technological innovation development), SDG 10 (social inclusion), SDG 13 (climate change mitigation), and SDG 17 (improving partnerships). This study highlights the need for integrated institutional, gender-inclusive policy frameworks, resilient business models, and technology-based decentralization for green entrepreneurial ecosystems. This study offers implications for policymakers and practitioners by identifying SEE as a driver of sustainable and inclusive growth, the urgency for developing competencies, and innovation ecosystems to support equitable and climate-resilient energy transitions. The study also identified that future research should focus on multidimensional approaches linked to sustainability, inclusion, and innovation.