Building a sustainable Africa: the role of the rule of law, green technology innovation, and international trade in achieving SDG 13

The increasing vulnerability of African nations to climate change underscores the need to identify the institutional, structural, and technological drivers of CO 2 emissions to advance progress toward SDG 13. However, the role of institutional, technological innovation, and trade in influencing CO 2 emissions remains insufficiently examined in an integrated and multi-channel framework within the African context. Using panel data of 15 African countries from 2000 to 2022, this study utilizes the Bias-Corrected Method of Moments and system GMM to examine the effects of the rule of law, green technology innovation, renewable energy consumption, international trade, and GDP on CO 2 emissions. The results reveal that the rule of law reduces CO 2 emissions, highlighting the role of strong governance and regulatory enforcement in improving environmental performance. Renewable energy consumption is found to reduce CO 2 emissions, reaffirming the environmental benefits of a clean-energy transition in Africa. In contrast, green technology innovation increases CO 2 emissions, suggesting a rebound effect and the predominance of carbon-intensive innovation pathways. GDP similarly contributes to rising CO 2 emissions, consistent with scale-driven environmental pressure. Trade is positively and insignificantly associated with CO 2 emissions. The results underscore the need for Africa to strengthen institutional quality, scale up clean energy systems, and reorient trade toward sustainable sectors to achieve SDG 13. • Examined the effect of rule of law, green technology innovation, andtrade on CO 2 emissions. • Rule of law significantly reduces CO 2 emissions across the African countries. • Green innovation raises CO 2 emissions, showing early-stage rebound effects. • Renewable energy use lowers emissions, supporting Africa's clean transition. • GDP increases CO 2 emissions, reflecting scale-driven pressures.