Policy Insights on the Contribution of Forest Bioenergy and Environmental Education Towards Achieving a Zero-Carbon Transition

The biggest concern for global policymakers is how to tackle the worsening global climate and rising temperatures, and they believe that CO₂ emissions are the main culprit behind this catastrophe. In this regard, the 2015 Paris Agreement was a major milestone in binding the nations to reduce carbon emissions by 2030 and ultimately to achieve the objective of net zero emissions or carbon neutrality by 2050. In light of the Paris Agreement, the primary purpose of this analysis is to investigate the contribution of forest bioenergy and environmental education toward carbon neutrality objectives in BRICS economies. In order to empirically investigate the nexus, we employ the advanced econometric approaches (CS-ARDL, PMG-ARDL, DCCE). The findings of the analysis suggest that forest bioenergy significantly reduces CO₂ emissions, which is useful to the carbon neutrality objective. In contrast, environmental education is crucial for reducing CO₂ emissions and thus helps in achieving carbon neutrality objectives. In addition, economic growth is detrimental to the carbon neutrality objective, whereas natural resources rent is favorable. This study suggests that forest-based bioenergy and environmental awareness in climate strategies can accelerate the global transition toward a zero-carbon future.