Revolutionizing Climate Action: Achieving <scp>SDG</scp> 13 Through the Lens of the Rule of Law, Green Technology Innovation, Renewable Energy, and Trade Openness

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🔬研究者:Provides empirical evidence on the joint effects of institutional quality, innovation, and trade on emissions, useful for policy modeling.

🏢実務担当者:Highlights the importance of renewable energy procurement and institutional compliance for corporate decarbonization strategies.

🏛政策担当者:Informs policy design on the need for institutional strengthening and renewable energy expansion to meet SDG 13.

ABSTRACT The European Union has adopted a broad climate policy framework under the European Green Deal to support progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 13). However, empirical evidence remains limited regarding how institutional quality, green technological innovation, renewable energy, and trade openness jointly influence CO 2 emissions across European countries. This study addresses the following research question: How do rule of law, green technological innovation, renewable energy consumption, and trade openness affect CO 2 emissions in European economies pursuing SDG 13 targets? Using a dynamic panel model with a bias‐corrected estimation technique for 25 European countries from 2000 to 2020, the study evaluates the long‐run environmental effect of these factors while controlling for human capital and economic growth. The findings show that the rule of law, renewable energy consumption, and human capital significantly reduce CO 2 emissions, highlighting the importance of institutional effectiveness, clean energy transitions, and knowledge‐based capacity supporting climate mitigation. In contrast, green technological innovation increases CO 2 emissions, reflecting a green‐innovation paradox, in which innovation activities may initially increase emissions due to energy‐intensive research, industrial scaling, infrastructure expansion, and delayed diffusion of low‐carbon technologies before long‐run environmental benefits emerge. Trade openness also increases CO 2 emissions, suggesting that scale effects and carbon leakage risks continue to pose challenges to climate objectives in highly integrated economies. Economic growth shows no significant effect on emissions. The study concludes that progress toward SDG 13 in Europe depends not only on technological advancement, but also on institutional quality, the expansion of renewable energy, and climate‐aligned trade governance.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.71514first seen 2026-08-01 05:56:25
• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.71514first seen 2026-08-02 06:22:43