Investigating the potential role of innovation and clean energy in mitigating the ecological footprint in N11 countries

This paper seeks to explore the potential function of technological innovation and clean power in mitigating the ecological footprint in the N-11 nations during the phase 1992–2015 by applying panel cointegration analysis. The outcomes of the panel cointegration test signify the occurrence of a long-run relation among the clean energy (CE) variable, the ecological footprint (EF) variable, the per capita GDP (Y) variable, the financial development (FIN) variable, and technological innovation (TI) variable. The outcomes of the VECM signify a long-run causal relation from the ecological footprint (EF) variable to the clean energy (CE) variable, the GDP per capita (Y) variable, and technological innovation (TI) variable. This implies that the environmental degradation faced by the N-11 countries leads to shifting toward clean energy sources and technological innovation in the long run. Thus, the N-11 countries are in need to design policies that enhance shifting toward environmentally friendly energy sources.