Role of energy sources in promotion of sustainable development: moderating implications of globalisation

This study empirically investigates the impact of renewable and non-renewable energy generation on sustainable development for a balanced panel of 68 developed and developing economies from 1990 to 2019. This is done to scrutinise the intricate interplay between energy sources and sustainable development outcomes at the global level. The estimated models also control for the effects of globalisation, urbanisation, and government expenditure. The Westerlund cointegration establishes a significant long-run relationship between the variables under consideration. In this regard, the two-step dynamic system-generalised moment method (system GMM) demonstrates a positive impact of renewable energy, globalisation, and government expenditure on sustainable development. In contrast, non-renewable energy and urbanisation exert detrimental influences on it. However, both the energy sources demonstrate an amplified positive impact on sustainable development under the moderating influence of globalisation. The Feasible Generalised Least Squares estimation also confirms the long-run reliability of these baseline findings. Furthermore, Granger based non-causality test establishes a significant causal relationship between the variables under consideration. Potential policy suggestions for promoting the sustainable development are also discussed.