Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of green finance (GF), green energy, green innovation (GI) and geopolitical risk (GPR) on India’s production-based and consumption-based CO2 emissions (PCO2 and CCO2) for 1990–2020. Design/methodology/approach To estimate the model, the green finance index is used as a proxy for GF. It encapsulates the government’s efforts in funding environmental protection, conservation projects and climate change mitigation initiatives. The proxy for GI is derived from the number of patents filed related to environmental technologies and sustainable practices. Data on carbon emissions are obtained from the Global Carbon Atlas. The study used the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to check the long-run association among variables. Findings This study explores the influence of GF, green innovation and GPR on India’s consumption and production-based carbon emissions. According to the study, GF, renewable energy, green innovation and GPR reduce carbon emissions from production and consumption. Notably, higher GPR is associated with lower emissions, suggesting that geopolitical shocks can dampen economic activity and energy demand. The authors also observe a short-run rise in production-based emissions (PCO2) associated with green innovation, likely reflecting transitional effects of technology deployment. On the contrary, trade openness increases carbon emissions. Originality/value Unlike prior studies, this study explicitly integrates an international GPR index alongside GF and innovation, and distinguish between production- and consumption-based emissions. The study provides valuable insights to policymakers on effective strategies to mitigate environmental degradation in a developing country like India. Because India is among the world’s top emitters, the Indian evidence on GPR-linked emissions and dual accounting has direct implications for global climate governance, trade carbon accounting and cross-border energy diplomacy.
Kumari et al. (Wed,) studied this question.