Previous studies extensively acknowledge the significance of renewable energy as a crucial factor in determining environmental sustainability. There is a growing body of research in favor of renewable energy transition policies on a worldwide scale. For instance, ref. ^[1][46] found that the environmental standard of BRICS-T (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and Turkey) countries increases as a result of increased use of renewable energy consumption, and it is positively associated with LCF. Samour et al. ^[2][47] reported similar findings for the 1990–2018 period and likewise concluded that the state of the environment can be improved by increasing the utilization of energy from renewable sources. Using three different models—PMG, MG, and PNARDL—Adebayo and Samour ^[3][48] demonstrated how the increased use of renewable energy in BRICS nations contributes to environmental sustainability as estimated by LCF. They also found a positive correlation between renewable energy and environmental conditions. A comparable study was conducted by Dogan and Pata ^[4][49], who analyzed the effect of renewable energy utilization on LCF for the G7 countries from 1986 to 2017. The empirical results show that using renewable energy sources is crucial for increasing the G7 countries’ LCF over the long term.

Similarly, Dam and Sarkodie ^[5][50] found that the usage of renewable energy stimulates the LCF and helps to achieve sustainability in selected OECD nations. This line of justification is also supported by Shang et al. ^[6][51] for ASEAN nations and Pata and Samour ^[7][52] for OECD countries. Another study confirmed that using renewable energy promotes environmental sustainability; the effect is magnified when renewable energy costs are combined with renewable energy usage ^[8][53]. However, ref. ^[9][54] showed that the use of renewable electricity did not affect the LCF or environmental sustainability. Hence, most of the literature supports the role of renewable energy in improving environmental sustainability.

Because of the potential for environmental damage during resource extraction, remediation, and consumption, several researchers have analyzed the consequences of natural resource rent on the environment. For instance, using CS-ARDL, Zhao et al. ^[10][55] analyzed its impact from an LCF perspective. According to their findings, the BRICS-T countries’ natural resource use has had a detrimental impact on the environment by lowering the LCF over the long and short term. Ni et al. ^[11][56] shared similar insights for high-resource-consuming countries. The long-term results of the ARDL approach show that excessive reliance on natural resources for growth significantly reduces the LCF and moves away from the goal of environmental sustainability. Under the load capacity curve (LCC) hypothesis in BRICS, Yang et al. ^[12][57] found that the resource rent factor negatively impacts the environment by lowering the LCF. Moreover, Li et al. ^[13][58] revealed that the total natural resource rent (i.e., the rent of minerals, natural gas, oil, and coal), along with globalization and economic growth, diminishes the LCF and thus stimulates the degradation of the environment in the Next-11 nations. In line with these studies, another investigation by Ibrahim and Ajide ^[14][59] on BRICS economies that included total natural resource rents, the development of financing, and regulatory effectiveness evidences an upsurge in degradation.

However, Pata and Ertugrul ^[15][60] demonstrated a counterintuitive comprehension for India, arguing that natural resource rent supports improvements in environmental quality through increasing the LCF over the 1988–2018 timeframe. Another study by Sun et al. ^[16][61] also found a positive association between natural resource rent and LCF for 17 Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries. Furthermore, the study of Balsalobre-Lorente et al. ^[17][62] claimed that natural resources replace highly emitting energy sources, paving the way toward environmental sustainability goals. Wang et al. ^[18][63] argued that increased natural resource rents promote ecological improvement via freer commerce. Their findings implied that the nation’s base of natural resources deserves to be taken into full account in the evolution of trade liberalization.

The involvement of agriculture in environmental degradation has been the subject of recent research. Some studies have focused on the consequences brought on by human activities, including fishing, dairy production, and agriculture, on the environment. Ridzuan et al. ^[19][64] demonstrated that the crops and fisheries segment of agriculture significantly reduced carbon emissions in the 1978–2016 period. Meanwhile, some other studies focus on the nexus between agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability. For instance, using DOLS and FMOLS methods and data from 1990 to 2014, Balsalobre-Lorente et al. ^[20][16] determined the negative effects of agriculture on the natural environment for BRICS economies. In the case of Bangladesh, Raihan et al. ^[21][18] found that CO₂ emissions are reduced when agricultural productivity increases. Adapting the ARDL approach, Prastiyo et al. ^[22][17] found that CO₂ emissions increase along with economic growth and urbanization, whereas value-added agriculture negatively impacts emissions and hence improves environmental conditions. According to Muoneke et al. ^[23][65], when it comes to addressing ecological sustainability, the farming sector performs beyond the threshold required to maximize the growth advantages provided by the agricultural system. However, Pata ^[24][1] found no significant effect of agriculture on the ecological footprint of BRICS countries.

The sustainable development of regions, food safety, and environmentally friendly agricultural production have all been the primary focus of prior agricultural research ^[25][26][66,67]. Beyond this, Jiang et al. [27] investigated the connection between agricultural employment and environmental pollution. Their empirical findings revealed that employment in agriculture exaggerates environmental damage by increasing the EF. Thus, the literature resviearchw reveals that the relationship between employment in agriculture and environmental deterioration is not as well studied as other topics in the field.

The impact of technological innovation on environmental sustainability objectives has been the subject of multiple studies. For example, taking LCF as a measure of environmental conditions, Mehmood et al. ^[28][68] utilized cross-section improved autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) estimation. The empirical results show that technological advances are good for the health of the environment. Ref. ^[29][19] examined the effect of technological development on the environmental impact of Brazil, India, China, and South Africa from 1990 to 2016; the results show that technological development has helped reduce environmental damage. Awosusi et al. ^[30][22] also support this trend of achieving environmental sustainability through technological adoption. A pair of recent studies ^[31][32][20,69] also acknowledged the role of technology in mitigating environmental degradation within G7 nations. Additionally, Wahab et al. ^[31][20] specifically highlighted that the adoption of technology has resulted in a reduction in consumption-based CO₂ emissions. However, the ARDL estimation for the USA found no significant impact of clean energy technologies on LCF ^[33][70].

There exist opposing perspectives that technical advancements have a role in degrading environmental sustainability. Jahanger et al. ^[34][2] studied the nexus between technological innovation and environmental sustainability. Their findings indicate a negative correlation between the level of technological innovation and the LCF in the top SDG nations. Also, a study by Su et al. ^[35][21] provides evidence that the degradation of the Brazilian environment is a result of higher carbon emissions from new technologies. Similar insight was shared by Khan et al. ^[36][71] for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. The impact of technological innovation on environmental degradation is significant, boosting the combustion of energy and thus carbon emissions in these countries.