The asymmetric relationship between public–private partnerships investment in energy and environmental degradation for sustainable development: new evidence from quantile-on-quantile regression approach

According to the United Nations Agenda, the 2023 sustainable environment is necessary to secure this planet’s future; public–private partnerships investment in energy is crucial to sustainable development. The research examines the quantile association between public–private partnership ventures in energy and environmental degradation in ten developing nations, and data is used from January 1998–December 2016. The advanced econometrics quantile-on-quantile regression approach is used to control the issues of heterogeneity and asymmetric relationship. According to the quantile-on-quantile approach, there is a strong positive association between public–private partnerships in energy and environmental degradation in Argentina, Brazil, Bangladesh, and India. But the negative relationship is observed on different quantiles of China, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Thailand, and the Philippines. The findings suggest that the world needs to act as a single community and divert its resources toward renewable energy sources to control climate change; also, to accomplish the UN 15-year road map of Agenda 2023 with 17-SDGs; out of these 17 sustainable goals, SDG-7 is related to affordable and clean energy, SDG-11 is about sustainable cities and communities, and SDG-13 focuses on climate action for sustainable development.