Environmental sustainability in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Countries: The role of sustainable tourism, renewable energy and technological innovation

Promoting environmental sustainability has become a global imperative in our collective efforts to combat climate change. Consequently, there is an urgent need to explore effective strategies for achieving environmental sustainability. In this context, we investigate the nexus between sustainable tourism, renewable energy, technological innovation, and environmental quality. Our study utilizes panel data from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries, covering the period from 1995 to 2020, and categorizes the sample into distinct income clusters. Employing rigorous empirical methods such as panel quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL), panel unit root tests, ordinary least squares (OLS), and the Wald test, we uncover significant insights. Notably, our findings reveal that sustainable tourism and technological innovation exhibit robust negative long -run associations with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across all economic groups. Furthermore, renewable energy demonstrates a significantly negative long -run relationship with GHG emissions in low-income economies (specifically, 0.8%, 1.2%, and 1.2% at the 50th, 70th, and 90th quantiles, respectively). The comprehensive analysis, encompassing the entire sample, underscores the significantly negative link between sustainable tourism, technological innovation, and GHG emissions in both the long -run and short -run. Additionally, our Wald test results validate the dynamic integration and parameter consistency over time. In light of these findings, we advocate that all stakeholders in BRI economies embrace environmentally conscious growth strategies and innovative technologies to achieve lasting environmental sustainability.