Do globalization and human capital an opportunity or threat to environmental sustainability? Evidence from emerging countries

Globalization is an inclusive procedure that promotes worldwide cooperation and competition among countries by reducing cross-border constraints. To this end, this study investigates the role of globalization (economic, financial, and trade globalization), human capital, and technology with carbon footprint in the context of emerging seven (E−7) countries over the period 1970–2020. The empirical outcomes based on the cross-sectional autoregressive distributive lag (CS-ARDL) model reveal the direct effect of economic and trade globalization on environmental deterioration. Though analysis results reveal that financial globalization positively connects with carbon footprint, its coefficient is considerably low. Contrarily, human capital, technological advancement, and renewable energy improve environmental performance. The study's conclusion validates that human capital preserves atmospheric quality. Similarly, renewable energy and urbanization impart their share to alleviating environmental degradation. The outcomes of this research offer necessary policy suggestions to accomplish sustainable environmental objectives.