Synergizing green energy, natural resources, global integration, and environmental taxation: Pioneering a sustainable development goal framework for carbon neutrality targets

Abstract

Addressing the intricate associations between green energy consumption, natural resources, economic globalization, and environmental taxes is central focus of Europe's ecological sustainability. This study uses cutting-edge techniques to investigate the impacts of green energy consumption, economic globalization, environmental taxation, as well as the potential moderating effects of natural resource rent in conjunction with environmental taxation in European countries during 1995–2020. The empirical findings of this study show that green energy, environmental tax and globalization are negatively associated with ecological footprint, while natural resource is positively linkedwith ecological footprint. Green energy consumption in conjunction with environmental tax has a significant and negative moderating impact on ecological footprint. Similar findings were observedfor the concurrence between natural resources rent and environmental tax, which means that environmental tax has some ability to improve the natural resources management and consequently contribute to improve environmental quality. The establishment of environmental taxation schemes and the use of green energy enable the pursuit of environmentally conscious economic, and energy policies by better-aligning industries with sustainable practices and promoting a balance between economic growth and environmental stewardship. Environmental tax system should support a larger adoption of green energy into European countries for reaching the target of carbon neutrality until 2050. It also contributes to the worldwide effort to achieve carbon neutrality and a sustainable future by offering useful insights and concrete recommendations for the development and implementation of environmentally responsible economic and energy strategies.