Determinants of material footprint in OECD countries: The role of green innovation and environmental taxes

Abstract

The economic progress of OECD countries is highly dependent on the use of materials. However, excessive material use may cause OECD countries to deviate from their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDGs 8 and 12. Therefore, it is an important policy agenda to analyze the determinants of the material footprint (MF) and seek solutions to reduce it. This study examines the impact of green innovation, environmental policy strategy, and environmental taxes on MF for 30 OECD countries from 2000 to 2019 using the cross-sectional ARDL (CS-ARDL) approach within the framework of the environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The outcomes indicate that the EKC hypothesis is valid for MF. Moreover, the long-term results indicate that green innovation, environmental policy stringency, and environmental taxes are important policy tools to reduce MF. Therefore, OECD countries should promote green innovation, upsurge environmental taxes, and implement stringent environmental policies to the achievement of SDGs 8 and 12.