The Impact of Natural Resource Utilisation, Green Energy, Carbon Finance, Artificial Intelligence, and Sustainable Innovation on the Environment: Evidence from Asia

With escalating global urgency surrounding environmental sustainability, Asian economies have intensified their efforts to improve environmental quality, particularly through reductions in carbon emissions. These have also been supported by the production of advanced technological solutions and the expansion of financial mechanisms dedicated towards environmental initiatives. Within this context, the present research empirically determines the impact of carbon finance, artificial intelligence, green energy, total natural resources, and sustainable innovation on environmental quality. A panel dataset covering three Asian countries is analysed by using advanced econometric techniques to ensure methodological robustness. The empirical outcomes show that carbon finance, green energy utilisation, and the integration of artificial intelligence, which exerts a positive and statistically significant effect on environmental quality, largely through reductions in CO2 emissions. In contrast, reliance on natural resources and higher economic growth are found to deteriorate environmental quality, whereas sustainable innovations show no significant relationship. These outcomes extend the existing literature by validating key determinants of environmental quality in Asian economies. Drawing on these insights, the research outlines policy implications to strengthen environmental performance in the countries under study.