<p>The importance of sustainable natural resource management, which seeks to optimize the development and utilization of resources, has grown due to the pressures of economic growth and the depletion of natural resources. The sustainability of natural resources remains a key focus for researchers and policymakers, who are developing effective policies to manage natural resources sustainably, thereby ensuring long-term growth and development. The literature provides limited findings concerning the factors that directly affect natural resource management. This study examines the impact of economic complexity, financial development, financial innovation, a circular economy, and green technological innovation on natural resource management in EU countries from 2004 to 2023. The study uses panel EGLS, Cup-FM, Ba-OLS, Emirmahmutoglu, and Kose causality analysis to identify the objectives. The findings suggest that economic&#xa0;complexity and financial development contribute to the conservation of natural resources in EU countries. In contrast, a circular economy, financial innovation, and green technological innovation negatively affect natural resource conservation. Therefore, it is essential to implement policies to avoid the rebound effect of technological progress in these countries. The causality findings confirm the existence of bidirectional causal relationships between economic complexity, financial development, financial innovation, the circular economy, green technology, and natural resource management. Therefore, there is a need for interactive policies to achieve natural resource management and sustainable development goals within this group of countries.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>