Can nuclear energy technology budgets pave the way for a transition toward low‐carbon economy: Insights from the United Kingdom

Abstract

The energy resources of the economies play a critical role in reaching the 2030 and 2050 decarbonization targets. In this respect, research and development budgets for nuclear energy (NRD), which constitutes one-fifth of the current energy resources in the United Kingdom, can be a step in the transition to a low-carbon economy. However, the current literature neglects the impact of NRD on environmental quality for the United Kingdom. Thus, this paper explores the impact of NRD on CO 2 in the United Kingdom by controlling income, trade openness, and financial development from 1974 to 2020 with a non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) approach. Empirical findings confirm the asymmetrical relationship between NRD and CO 2 . In this context, while positive changes in NRD reduce environmental degradation, negative changes in NRD hinder environmental sustainability. Another finding is that the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis is valid. Furthermore, the results show that while economic growth and trade openness reduce environmental quality, financial development contributes to environmental quality.

Mechanism of knowledge management process towards minimizing manufacturing risk under green technology implementation: an empirical assessment

“…Green process research identified by several scholars has shown that organizational initiatives in process improvement are connected to upgraded manufacturing firm performance (Jacobs et al 2015). Caglar's (2022) study highlighted that green environmental processes improve financial development and environmental quality. Numerous scholars have investigated that government regulation and stakeholder pressure trigger manufacturing firms to improve the production process (Guo et al 2019).…”

Pollution halo impact in context of productive capacities, energy poverty, urbanization, and institutional quality

“…Understanding the links between environmental degradation and SDGs is essential for developing holistic and effective strategies for sustainable development. The SDGs are a set of 17 global goals that aim to address various social, economic, and environmental challenges to achieve sustainable development by 2030 [3,4]. SDG 7 aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.…”

Elongating the role of renewable energy and sustainable foreign direct investment on environmental degradation

“…The current decade's prevalent challenge is maintaining the balance between economic growth and carbon emission reduction [ 6 ]. Foreign direct investment is a critical player in economic growth [ 7 ]. FDI is equally important for developing and developed countries to boost the scale of development, and continuous efforts and strategies are designed to attract FDI [ 8 ].…”