Contributing to sustainable development goals (SDGs) in environmental sustainability through public-private investment in energy: empirical evidence from EAGLE economies

Purpose This study aims to explore the empirical relationship between public–private investment (PPI) in energy and environmental quality. Design/methodology/approach The authors hypothesize that PPI can reduce pollution emissions and test this hypothesis by sampling the 20-year data of emerging and growth-leading economies (EAGLE) and adopting two estimation techniques named panel estimated generalized least square and fully modified ordinary least square models. Findings The empirical analysis vows that PPI has an inverse relationship with CO2 emissions, corroborating the sustainable development driving role of PPI. In addition, the empirical outcomes suggest a negative/positive role of energy imports and economic growth. Meanwhile, foreign direct investment is negatively linked with CO2 emissions, corroborating the pollution halo hypothesis in the case of EAGLE. However, financial development shows a positive relationship with CO2 emissions. Practical implications This study offers an important policy outlay regarding the pollution mitigation role of PPI in EAGLE. The environmental sustainability in underlying economies can be achieved by enhancing the magnitude of public–private cooperation in energy investment. The empirical analysis supplements cutting-edge empirical evidence regarding PPI as a driver of important sustainable development goal (SDG), i.e. environmental sustainability. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study that examines how one can achieve an important SDG regarding environmental sustainability through PPI in energy.