The role of green growth and institutional quality on environmental sustainability: A comparison of CO2 emissions, ecological footprint and inverted load capacity factor for OECD countries

Green growth is of great importance in terms of solving environmental problems and achieving sustainable development goals. However, the existing literature has not investigated how green growth affects environmental degradation and environmental sustainability variables. In light of this gap, this study aims to analyse the impact of green growth and institutional quality on CO 2 emissions, ecological footprint and inverse load capacity factor in OECD countries by constructing three different models. The results of the analysis indicate that (i) green growth exerts a significant mitigating and differentiating effect on CO 2 , ecological footprint and inverted load capacity factor in the long run. This is evidenced by a 1% increase in green growth reducing CO 2 , ecological footprint and inverted load capacity factor by 0.563%, 0.373% and 0.198%, respectively. (i) The impact of green growth on CO 2 and inverted load capacity factor in the long run is negative and statistically significant; (ii) the impact of green growth on CO 2 and inverted load capacity factor in the short run is negative and statistically significant; (iii) the impact of institutional quality on deterioration is positive and significant in the long run; (iv) the impact of population on deterioration and sustainability is significant and mixed. The findings indicate that decision-makers in OECD countries should review green energy policies when setting the sustainable development goals, as environmental sustainability is more challenging than reducing pollution.