Connecting higher education and renewable energy to attain sustainability for BRICS countries: A climate Kuznets curve perspective

PurposeIncreased trapped heat in the atmosphere leads to global warming and economic activity is the primary culprit. This study proposes the nonlinear impact of economic activity on cooling degree days to develop a climate Kuznets curve (CKC). Further, this study explores the moderating role of higher education and renewable energy in diminishing the climate-altering effects of economic activity.Design/methodology/approachAll the selected BRICS economies range from 1992 to 2020. The CKC analysis uses a distribution and outlier robust panel quantile autoregressive distributed lagged model.FindingsResults confirmed a U-shaped CKC, controlling for population density, renewable energy, tertiary education enrollment and innovation. The moderating role of renewable energy and education can be exploited to tackle the progressively expanding climate challenges. Hence, education and renewable energy intervention can help in reducing CKC-based global warming.Research limitations/implicationsThis study highlighted the incorporation of climate change mitigating curriculum in education, so that the upcoming economic agents are well equipped to reduce global warming which must be addressed globally.Originality/valueThis study is instrumental in developing the climate change-based economic activity Kuznets curve and assessing the potential of higher education and renewable energy policy intervention.