Moving towards green growth? Harnessing natural resources and economic complexity for sustainable development through the lens of the N-shaped EKC framework for the European Union

Sustainable development is a development plan that promotes efficient management of natural resources, sophisticated production technology, alternative energy sources, and economic well-being through financial aid in a sustainable manner for current and future generations. As a result, this study aims to explore the link between natural resources, economic complexity, and sustainable development in European Union (EU) member states using the N-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework from 1990 to 2019. According to the findings of the pooled mean group-autoregressive distributed lag (PMG-ARDL) calculation, economic complexity is favourably related to sustainable development in all member states. Natural resources have a negative impact on sustainable development in all member states, while technology trade openness has a negative impact on sustainable development in the EU27 and EU new-member states. The stock market improves sustainable development in EU27 member states and EU new-member states while decreasing sustainable development in EU old-member states. The impact of renewable energy on sustainable development is beneficial, encouraging increased investment in renewable energy sectors for sustainable production to reduce high economic growth and associated environmental concerns. The N-shaped EKC phenomenon has been identified for all EU member states. The findings present central policy suggestions for policy-makers aiming to achieve sustainable development in the EU's periphery.