Is green and sustainable technological innovation a potential driver of environmental performance? an empirical investigation across the ASEAN region

Environmental degradation is a significant concern that jeopardizes global sustainable production and consumption. In this instance, ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) has contributed to a considerable amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions throughout the modernization phase. However, there is a paucity of information within this region on the non-linear impact of transitions in green and sustainable technological innovation on CO 2 emissions. In response, the present work endeavors to bridge the existing research gap by examining the asymmetrical and periodic interactions between green and sustainable technological innovation and CO 2 emissions by employing cross-sectional time series data of 7-ASEAN economies over the period 1990 to 2017. The co-integrating connections between the specified parameters were established using the Wester-Lund cointegration technique. Further, the Cross-Sectionally Augmented Autoregressive Distributed Lag estimator revealed that negative disruptions in green and sustainable technological innovation lead to CO 2 emissions during downturns. Secondarily, the findings confirmed positive surges in green and sustainable technological innovation minimize CO 2 emissions during times of economic expansion. Also, as compared to foreign direct investment, current statistics indicate that renewable energy utilization seems to have a substantial impact on reducing carbon emissions. Besides, the robustness analysis corroborated the uniformity and validity of the given outcomes. Consequently, the outcomes divulged a counter-cyclical interaction between green and sustainable technological innovation and CO 2 emissions.