The implications of forest resources depletion, agricultural expansion, and financial development on energy demand and ecological footprint in BRI countries

The Belt and Road initiative is a comprehensive strategic initiative initiated by the Chinese government; it encompasses a significant segment of geo-territory, interaction of economy, investment, environment and ecology worldwide. In recent years, much has been said and written about the Belt and Road initiative’s economic and investment prospectus; however, relatively little attention has been paid to the comprehensive quest of its emergent ecological and sustainable environmental spares. This paper aims to investigate the association of forest resources, agricultural expansion, and financial development with energy demand and environment; based on ecological footprints among selected ninety-seven nations of Belt and Road initiative from 1995 to 2018 by employing a Generalized Method of Moments and Driscoll and Kraay approaches. Empirical outcomes of the study have revealed that GDP growth reduces the environmental burden, and agricultural expansion deteriorates the environment. Contrarily, finance, foreign direct investment, and forest resources are providing solutions for environmental improvement in the study area. Similarly, the role of forests, agriculture, and finance remain positive determinants of energy demand in the study area. From the causal test, we found that the indicators of environment, energy, forest, agriculture, and finance all have bidirectional linkages. Based on our research results, we have concluded some policy implications for policymakers within the Belt and Road initiative framework. Graphical abstract An overview of research results