Green Growth Index under the COP30 Agenda: The Roles of Agriculture, Artificial Intelligence and Energy Transition in G7 Countries

Sustainable development is among the most important global goals. In this context, economic, environmental, and social sustainability constitute three important components. Green growth is among the main focuses outlined in the COP30 Agenda. COP30 places great emphasis on a green growth approach that takes environmental issues into account and pays attention to combating the climate crisis. This study focuses on the determinants of green growth in the G7 countries, which stand out as the most developed group of countries. Within this scope, the role of agriculture and artificial intelligence is highlighted. Using data from 2010-2022 for G7 countries, the study investigates the relationship between green growth and agriculture, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, environmental taxes, and economic freedoms. Panel data techniques that consider cross-sectional dependence are used in estimating the broad empirical model. In this context, the PANIC Fourier unit root test and panel cointegration tests that take structural breaks into account are used. The empirical findings reveal that agricultural value added, artificial intelligence, renewable energy consumption, and environmental taxes have a statistically significant and positive effect on the green economic growth index; while the effect of the economic freedom index is statistically insignificant. These results highlight the leading role of the agricultural sector and artificial intelligence in achieving green growth. On the other hand, the importance of renewable energy and environmental taxes in preventing negative externalities of economic growth has also been demonstrated. These results offer important policy implications for G7 countries, shedding light on the factors that pave the way for sustainable development.