Pathways to SDG 7, 9, and 13 in BRICS : Green Innovation, R&D, Energy Mix, and CO ₂ Emissions

This study examines how green technology, technological innovation, research and development (R&D), renewable energy, fossil‐fuel dependence, trade openness, urbanization and income are associated with CO 2 emissions in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa over 1990–2024. The SDG framing is operationalized by linking renewable and fossil‐fuel energy indicators to SDG 7, green technology, technological innovation and R&D to SDG 9, and CO 2 emissions per capita to SDG 13. Using a balanced panel of 175 country‐year observations, the paper estimates country fixed‐effects models as the main specification, applies the Hausman test for model choice, and uses Driscoll‐Kraay standard errors to improve inference under cross‐sectional dependence, heteroskedasticity and serial correlation. ARDL, VAR and Granger procedures are used only as supplementary dynamic and predictive checks. The results show that green technology and renewable energy consumption are negatively associated with CO 2 emissions, while broader technological innovation and GDP per capita are positively associated with emissions in the preferred specification. R&D does not show a stable independent association after fixed effects are applied. The findings are interpreted as conditional associations rather than definitive causal effects because the BRICS panel is small and innovation‐emissions feedback may remain. The study suggests that SDG‐aligned decarbonization in BRICS requires innovation to be environmentally directed and embedded in renewable‐energy substitution, not treated as a generic technology‐expansion agenda.