This research investigates the relationships between CO2 emissions, the economy, renewable energy consumption, green financing, and foreign direct investment in BRICS nations from 2000 to 2019 under the effect of higher education. The stationarity of the data was evaluated using three unit root tests: ADF-Fisher, Levin, Lin, and Chin and Im, Pesaran, and Shin. The panel autoregressive distributed lag approach identified the long-run and short-run elasticities. The empirical findings demonstrate that variables cointegrate. In the long run, renewable energy, economic growth, green finance, foreign direct investment, and higher education all influence CO2 emissions; however, in the short run, only economic growth, renewable energy, and higher education influence CO2 emissions. The findings also indicate that higher education increases dramatically at the individual and societal levels, reducing CO2 emissions in the short and long term. The overall empirical study of group and economy is supported by the results of robust statistics. In light of the results, the BRICS economies are advised to collaborate for sustainable growth while preserving environmental quality. Moreover, the BRICS countries should prioritize investing in the growth of higher education and enhancing the use of renewable energy for sustainable development.
Keywords: BRICS; CO2; FDI; Financial development; Green finance; Higher education; Renewable energy.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.