How do environmental technology and governance influence environmental degradation in Indo-Pacific countries?
摘要
This study examines the interrelations among environmental technology, financial development, financial technology, governance dimensions, and ecological degradation in seven Indo-Pacific nations from 1990 to 2022, utilising panel-data methodologies including the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, average mean group (AMG) model, and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) model. The results show that technology had a substantial impact on reducing environmental degradation. Financial development, to some extent, increases carbon footprint through industrial production. Technological innovations have the potential to reduce carbon footprint significantly, provided that effective institutional governance mechanisms are in place. The results further showed mixed effects for governance. Institutional governance was a significant contributor to sustainability outcomes; an economic governance system led to increased emissions; however, political governance was not an important factor. The results suggest a policy dilemma in establishing an overarching framework to leverage environmental technologies, sustainable financing, and effective governance to achieve a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy.