Acquiring Green Growth and Environmental Sustainability through Green Energy Production & Consumption, Eco-Innovation, and Sustainable Natural Resource Extraction & Consumption

Dear Colleagues,

Today, the global economy is working tirelessly to preserve the ecosystem's sustainability in the face of numerous pollutants that pose a great hazard to human health and the environment. Evidence abounds that global warming is among the most critical challenges of the current era, which has sparked many extreme weather conditions and health issues. This situation has prompted the concept of global environmental governance leading to various conferences and events organized by environmental institutions and global leadership to combat climate change. Among the most recent events, the United States Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021 emphasized the goal to keep global warming below 2 °C. However, the goal to reduce global warming and achieve environmental sustainability is unlikely to be realized without boosting eco-innovation, shifting to green energy, and ensuring sustainable natural resource extraction and consumption.

Natural resources, such as oil, coal, and gas, were increasingly used to generate income, which accelerated technological innovation and economic prosperity across the globe (Veisi, 2017). However, soil and water pollution linked with natural resources’ extraction adversely impacts human health and the environment. In addition, the consumption of natural resources, such as gas, coal, and oil, generates emissions that increase global warming and environmental unsustainability. Increasing urbanization trends in developing countries along with rising construction, transportation, and industrial activities have sparked the demand for natural resources leading to an enormous expansion in the extraction and consumption of natural resources (Ahmed et al., 2020). This situation stimulates environmental degradation since natural resource extraction practices are mostly unsustainable; also in addition, the consumption of natural resources brings adverse ecological impacts. Thus, achieving the sustainable extraction and consumption of natural resources is critical in lowering the environmental costs of development (Hassan et al., 2019). In this regard, it has become necessary to stimulate green energy production to enhance the supply of alternative energy sources. Alternative energy sources can be used to replace fossil fuels in order to reduce environmental deterioration and achieve green growth. However, producing such sources of energy entails increasing the eco-innovation capacity of nations since green energy technologies are not sufficiently produced in economies, particularly in developing nations. Additionally, innovation is also needed to curb the consumption of resources by enhancing resource efficiency.

However, limiting the unsustainability of natural resources, stimulating innovation, and shifting to alternative energy are major challenges that require an understanding of the linkage between these variables to develop comprehensive economic, technological, and environmental strategies. Against this backdrop, this Special Issue seeks contributions that could guide practitioners and policymakers to attain environmental sustainability targets by addressing diverse issues associated with green energy consumption and production, eco-innovation, and natural resource extraction and consumption. We invite contributions from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives on, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Natural resources and green growth for ecological sustainability;
• Green energy consumption and green growth;
• Green energy consumption and production, and ecological sustainability;
• Natural resources, green finance, and energy transition in resource-rich and resource-poor countries;
• Environmental innovation, green energy, and sustainability;
• Extraction of natural resources and environmental sustainability in the context of COP-26 targets;
• Financial investments, green energy transition, and sustainable growth;
• Green energy and carbon neutrality;
• Assessing the environmental impacts of mining activities;
• Natural resources and eco-efficiency;
• Roles of innovation and alternative energy in ecological sustainability;
• Carbon taxes and restrictions on the extraction and utilization of natural resources;
• Green technological innovation and the efficiency of natural resources utilization;
• CO₂ emissions, fossil fuel use, and environmentally friendly technology;
• Energy transition, natural resources extraction, natural resources use, and sustainability;
• Green energy policy, conflicts, and environmental sustainability; 
• Natural resources, geopolitical risk, and economic policy uncertainty;
• Sustainable mining in developed and developing nations;
• Innovation and sustainable growth;
• Sustainable development, financial investments, and green energy consumption.

References

    Ahmed, Z., Asghar, M. M., Malik, M. N., & Nawaz, K. (2020). Moving towards a sustainable environment: the dynamic linkage between natural resources, human capital, urbanization, economic growth, and ecological footprint in China. Resources Policy, 67, 101677.

    Hassan, S. T., Xia, E., Khan, N. H., & Shah, S. M. A. (2019). Economic growth, natural resources, and ecological footprints: evidence from Pakistan. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(3), 2929-2938.

   Veisi, M. (2017). Essays on the links between natural resources, corruption, taxation and economic growth. The University of Manchester (United Kingdom).

Dr. Zahoor Ahmed
Dr. Mahmood Ahmad
Dr. Syed Tauseef Hassan
Dr. Abdullah Emre Caglar
Guest Editors

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• natural resources and green growth
• green energy consumption
• green energy consumption and production
• natural resources
• green finance
• extraction of natural resources
• green energy transition
• green energy and carbon neutrality
• environmental impacts of mining activities
• carbon taxes
• CO₂ emissions
• fossil fuel use
• environmentally friendly technology
• energy transition