<p>China and India are tremendously expediting progress towards technological innovation in line with SDG-9, which could be a measure to tackle climate change (SDG-13) and attain net zero emissions. Thus, our study intends to scrutinize the environmental influence of technological innovation in India and China under the cubic Environmental Kuznets curve framework during 1984–2021. The ARDL model’s results validate the significantly negative influence of technological innovation on carbon emissions in India. Further, our results satisfy the validity criterion i.e., necessary as well as sufficient condition and therefore confirm a valid inverted N-pattern EKC with two real tipping points for China and India. China’s estimated two turning points fall within the sample period at a threshold of economic growth of 517.68 and 4813.2 USD in the years 1983 and 2008. However, for India, the first estimated turning point falls within the study’s time period, whereas the predicted second turning point towards environmental sustainability is at an income threshold of 6305 USD, which highlights that economic growth would be a remedy for CO₂ emissions only after 2048. The findings suggest the significance of investing in technical innovation for policy formulation to address climate change. Further, nations should achieve the threshold income, beyond which further rises will reduce CO₂ emissions. Nonetheless, it is imperative for policymakers to ensure that increasing economic growth should not damage the environment.</p>