In the face of climate change and environmental degradation, reducing emission of greenhouse gases has become a key factor for environmental sustainability. Therefore, the present research is intended to explore the roles of renewable energy consumption, institutional quality, technological innovation, and GDP on carbon dioxide emissions in the 14 EU countries. In doing so, this study employed novel method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) using annual data from 2000 to 2019. Also, a number of other estimators were applied for robustness check including the fully modifed ordinary least square (FMOLS), the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), and the fxed efect ordinary least square (FE-OLS). The empirical fndings indicate that renewable energy consumption signifcantly reduces CO2 emissions across all quantiles (0.1–0.9). Furthermore, institutional quality and technological innovation improve environmental quality in 0.1–0.7 quantiles, although GDP enhances carbon emissions signifcantly in all quantiles. In addition, the FMOLS, DOLS, and FE-OLS results confrmed the MMQR results. The outcomes of this study suggest insights for the policymakers to mitigate carbon emissions through promoting innovative technologies for environmental protection and investing more in the development of renewable energy.

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