Research Information System
in: World Sustainability Series, Springer International Publishing Ag, pp.399-416, 2026
Renewable energy has gained increasing attention from practitioners and scholars as globalization, industrialization, and urbanization raised the demand for energy on the one hand, and on the other hand, traditional energy sources have obviously affected environmental damage, pollution, and climate change. In addition, sustainable development implies sustainable and efficient use of energy while ensuring energy supply to all citizens around the world. In this regard, renewable energy transition become prevalent for both developed and emerging countries. Therefore, factors influencing the renewable energy transition need to be studied. This research examines the role of economic prosperity and financial development in energy transformation towards zero-carbon energy sources.Data was gathered from OECD countries between 2003 and 2023. The research analyzes 546 observations from various data sources to test variables. Driscoll-Kraay nonparametric technique was used to estimate standard errors. This research demonstrates that the increase in economic growth leads to a renewable energy transition, while an increase in carbon emission causes a decrease in renewable energy consumption in OECD countries. Moreover, the increase in environmental patents gives rise to the renewable energy transition. Furthermore, the expansion of ATMs per one thousand adults measuring micro-financial development, and the increase in bank loans by governments and public enterprises as well as GDP growth reflecting macro-financial development positively correlates with renewable energy consumption. The study demonstrated the importance of a reliable financial system for energy transition. Since micro-financial and macro-financial development increase renewable energy consumption, policies and strategies should be directed towards the development in order to facilitate clean energy transition.