Toward sustainable development: Exploring the relationship between economic fitness and carbon emissions in BRICS

Global warming and energy security are currently the two most challenging issues facing the globe. Economic fitness (EF) is a country's ability to deal with complex issues like environmental degradation (ED) and energy insecurity, which are major global concerns. The significance of this study lies in the fact that it investigates the influencing factors of CO2 emissions (CO2E), as these factors contribute to SDGs. This study, which uses panel data from 1995 to 2015, aims to investigate the impact of EF on CO2E from biofuels (BFs) and fossil fuels (FFs) combustion in the BRICS countries. The FGLS and PCSE results show an N-shaped relationship between EF and BFs-CO2E, and an inverted N-shaped association between EF and FFs-CO2E. The results of this study are robust even after including control variables. In addition, urbanization, economic growth, and financial development are positively related to both BFs' & FFs' CO2E. The policy implication is that government should focus on increasing country EF to reduce CO2E. Moreover, this study provides crucial information for the policy makers and practitioners looking for the pathway to reduce CO2E and achieve sustainable development.