Natural resource management, green energy, financial development, and ecological sustainability: Reshaping urban landscape in G7 countries

The management of natural resources is critically important for resource conservation along with the adoption of green energy and financial development, which are indigenous to ecological sustainability. In G7 countries, none of the studies explored the fostering mechanisms of natural resource management, green energy, and financial development for the ecological sustainability in the context ecological sustainability theory presented by Marks and Engels. Pooled OLS, feasible GLS, Prais-Winsten regression, and bootstrap quantile regression methods are applied for empirical analysis using data from 1995 to 2020. The study concludes that natural resource, financial development, and urban land use decrease ecological sustainability, while the adoption of green energy, the moderating impact of financial development on green energy-sustainability relationships, and environmental innovations increase ecological sustainability. The findings reveal that Marks and Engles were pessimistic about the concept of ecological crises due to capitalism. However, the profits associated with natural resources correctly predicted the Marx and Engles concept of human beings' interactions with nature in the era of the industrial revolution 4.0. This study holds promising policy implications and suggests the adoption of green energy, conservation of natural resources, more R&D in environmental innovations, and the vertical sprawl of population in G7 countries.