Economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and ecological footprint: Exploring the role of environmental regulations and democracy in sustainable development

Countries enact environmental regulations to achieve sustainable development andecological sustainability. However, environmental regulations do not guarantee envi-ronmental sustainability unless implemented efficiently. Furthermore, political institu-tions play a key role in the formulation and management of environmentalregulations. This research examines the relationship between democracy, environ-mental regulations, economic growth, and ecological footprint (EF) in the panel of G7nations from 1985 to 2017. Second generation econometric techniques are used toanalyze the data. The empirical evidence indicates that economic growth enhancesEF while democracy and environmental regulations positively contribute to ecologicalsustainability by reducing EF. The causal outcomes reveal that democracy Grangercauses EF and renewable energy indicating that democracy curbs environmental deg-radation and stimulates the share of renewables. Further, democracy and environ-mental regulations Granger cause each other. Lastly, the implication of these findingsfor sustainable development and ecological sustainability are discussed.