Estimating the impacts of economic globalization and natural resources on ecological footprints within the N-shaped EKC in the Next 11 economies

The economic development of N-11 countries has been significantly influenced by the contributions of natural resources (NAT) and economic globalization (EG). These countries have been facing drastic environmental problems for several years. Hence, it is imperative to ascertain the environmental ramifications of natural resource extraction activities in the N-11 nations. In doing so, this study examines the impact of gross domestic product (GDP), EG, and NAT on ecological footprints (EF) within the time frame of 1971 to 2022 in the group of N-11 countries. After verifying the cross-sectional dependence, this work found the integration of all variables at first difference. To provide short and long run econometric results; this study utilizes cross sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL). The findings indicate that the presence of NAT rent has a detrimental impact (0.03%) on the ecological quality within the N-11 nations. Moreover, it can be argued that both EG and GDP exhibit environmentally sustainable characteristics over an extended period by (0.03% and − 3.12%) respectively. This study does not provide evidence for the presence of an N-shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) in the N-11 nations. Based on the findings, a policy recommendation is proposed for the nations in question. These countries must immediately implement and enforce robust environmental laws while fostering a heightened sense of environmental consciousness. It is imperative for emerging economies to increase their investments to explore and adopt efficient technologies in various economic sectors, including mining.