The EAGLE economies face persistent structural challenges such as energy inefficiency, weak institutions, and environmental degradation, alongside heightened vulnerability to global shocks and climate change. These barriers slow progress of EAGLE economies toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study investigates how energy efficiency (EEI), Production-based CO2 Productivity (CP), environment-related technologies (GDT), and institutional quality (IQI) shape SD in these economies. Using econometric techniques, including the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR), the study ensures robust estimation. For robustness checks, it applies Bootstrap Quantile Regression, DOLS, FMOLS, and CCR methods. To examine the direction of the relationship, the Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test is employed. The empirical results indicate that EEI, CP, and IQI exert a significant and positive influence on SD performance, thereby supporting progress toward the SDGs. In contrast, GDT exhibits heterogeneous effects across quantiles, showing negative impacts at the lower quantiles but positive and supportive effects at higher quantiles. From a policy perspective, governments should promote cleaner energy transitions, support innovation in green technologies, and strengthen regulatory frameworks to ensure effective environmental governance. Improving institutional capacity and transparency are also essential for successful policy implementation. Additionally, expanding international cooperation, climate finance, and investments in research and education can accelerate the transition toward a low-carbon economy and support progress toward global sustainability goals.

This study investigates the impact of economic globalization, geopolitical risk and natural resources on carbon emissions (CO2) in Turkey, while controlling for economic development and renewable energy. The study uses annual data from 1970 to 2019 and employs a quantile-on-quantile-based regularized least squares (QQKRLS) approach. The findings confirm a weak positive association between economic globalization and CO2 emissions at low and high quantiles, while this association becomes strong at quantiles from 0.40 to 0.65 of both variables. The study also confirms an overall positive association between geopolitical risk and CO2 emissions; however, this correlation becomes stronger at quantiles from 0.40 to 0.80 for both variables. In addition, the study also finds an overall inverse relationship between natural resource rents and CO2 emissions, except for extremely low quantiles of both variables, where the correlation becomes positive. To strengthen the reliability of our results, the study utilizes a non-parametric bivariate quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR) method for a robustness check. Based on the findings, it is recommended that policymakers encourage green trade practices and promote climate change action initiatives by starting joint clean projects to make this world cleaner for current and future generations.