Role of resources rent, research and development, and information and communication technologies on CO2 emissions in BRICS economies

The continuous increase in pollution levels has become a severe threat to the globe, and practitioners are trying their best to deal with environmental challenges to attain for attaining the targets of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Under the environmental aspects, the world has introduced numerous solutions to become clean and green while the problem remains intact. Therefore, this study is an attempt that investigate the impact of natural resources rent, research & development expenditures (R&D), information and communication technologies, and renewable energy consumption on carbon emissions under the framework of the STIRPAT model for BRICS economies during 1998–2021 by using CS-ARDL method. The empirical outcome shows that economic growth (EG), urbanization, and natural resources increase environmental pollution. On the other hand, R&D expenditures, renewable energy and digitalization support the sustainability theme. Furthermore, this study uses the Augmented Mean Group, Common Correlated Effect Mean Group and Panel Quantile Regression to validate the prior outcomes. Finally, the inverted connection between natural resource rents and emissions is validated in BRICS economies. Based on the empirical outcomes, this study suggests policy implications for attaining the targets of SDG-13 (climates change), SDG-07 (affordable and clean energy), SDG-08 (decent economic growth), SDG-09 (innovations, research and development), SDG-11 (sustainable cities and societies), and SDG-12 (responsible consumption).