Environmental technology development and renewable energy transition role toward carbon-neutrality goals in G20 countries

The transition to renewable energy is prioritized at the G20 Conference in 2023. This transition is essential for reducing carbon emissions, and environmental experts have stressed the urgency of identifying the factors fueling this energy transition. This paper examines the effects of the transition to renewable energy and environmental technology innovations on achieving the G20 nations' carbon-neutrality goals between 1995 and 2020. In addition to analyzing the contribution of non-renewable energy sources, financial development, the labor force, and economic growth have been analyzed, all the selected variables are found to have a long-term cointegration relationship. Given the asymmetrical nature of the data distribution, the study employs an advanced moment quantile regression method. The outcome identifies non-renewable energy, financial development, and labor force as significant contributors to consumption-driven CO2 emissions throughout all quantiles. On the other hand, the development of renewable energy transition and advancements in environment-related technology innovations and economic growth led to a significant reduction in emission levels. The bootstrapped quantile regression provides additional confirmation of the reliability of these results. In addition, the panel causality analysis reveals both bidirectional and unidirectional causal connections among CO2 emissions and the other evaluated factors. These findings suggest that environmentally friendly strategies, green technological advancements and renewable energy are crucial for carbon mitigation. [GRAPHICS] .