Navigating external conflicts, technological innovations, and financial risks for sustainable development: evidence from the EKC and ecological footprints in the next eleven

Abstract To achieve sustainable development, ongoing research needs further investigations in detail for stronger environmental protection. For this purpose, several studies have investigated the factors of ecological footprints (EF), but very few of them have taken external and internal conflicts with technological innovations in the context of EKC. Against this backdrop, this study applies some advanced techniques like wavelet plots and augmented mean group (AMG) methods over the panel data of 1984-2022 for the Next Eleven nations. The results find strong linkages among the variables. Moreover, reducing external conflicts can stimulate environmental quality. The results validate that the EKC, technological innovations, and financial risk are environmentally friendly. GDP is contributing to environmental degradation, while the population shows a mixed impact on environmental sustainability. The wavelet plots also show that there is a direct linkage between financial risk and ecological footprints.