Do digitalization and green innovation limit carbon emissions? Evidences from BRICS economies

Rapidly evolving innovation and digitalization have captured the focus of policymakers and scholars regarding their potent role in influencing environmental quality. The present research analyzes the impact of these variables on the carbon emissions of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa economies from 1990 to 2021. This research also explores the impact of economic growth, quadratic green innovation, and green energy on carbon emissions. Using several panel diagnostic tests, this research validates heterogeneous slopes, the presence of cross-sectional dependence, and significant cointegration. Due to the mixed integration order, this research uses a cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag model, and the results show that economic expansion and green innovation are significant drivers of emissions in both the short and long run. However, digitalization, quadratic green innovation, environmental policy stringency, and green energy are significant in improving environmental quality and sustainability. The long-term results are tested by employing a series of parametric and nonparametric regressions. This research recommends further investment in environmental research and development, digital technologies, green innovation, and the strengthening of environmental policies to attain sustainable development.