Eco-innovation and environmental sustainability in Germany: An empirical approach with smooth structural shifts

Germany has set an ambitious goal of meeting the recommendations of COP-26 and reducing its carbon intensity to zero by 2045. Germany is a leader in environmental patents after the United States, Japan, and South Korea, and the environmental implications of Germany's leadership in eco-innovation hold important clues for achieving net zero goals. In particular, the European Union is one of the global communities making the greatest efforts to combat emissions, and the success of the leading role of environmental patents in this Union in reducing CO2 emissions is an important research topic for scholars. Therefore, this study investigates the impact of environmental patents on CO2 emissions under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Germany. To this end, the study applies Bayer-Hanck and Fourier ADL approaches from 1970 to 2019. The main findings do not confirm the EKC hypothesis, while environmental patents play an active role in CO2 reduction. Based on these outcomes, Germany should consider a long-term green policy to decouple economic growth and emissions. At the same time, German policy should promote the development and application of environmental patents to achieve the net zero targets for 2045.