Earlier research has largely focused on the relationship between human capital and economic growth, with limited attention to its effect on the ecological footprint. This study fills that gap by investigating the impact of human capital on India’s ecological footprint during the period 1980–1981 to 2020–2021, while controlling for economic growth and renewable energy consumption. Employing advanced econometric techniques, including autoregressive distributed lag, vector error correction model Granger causality, stability tests, and decomposition analysis, the findings confirm a long-run co-integrated relationship among variables. Results indicate that a 1% increase in human capital reduces the ecological footprint by 2.70% in the long-run and 0.38% in the short-run. The study also supports the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and demonstrates a significant negative impact of renewable energy consumption on the ecological footprint. Granger causality analysis reveals that human capital influences ecological footprint, economic growth, and renewable energy consumption without feedback effects. The study concludes that human capital is instrumental in reducing the ecological footprint, fostering economic growth and promoting renewable energy adoption in India. It emphasizes the need for targeted policy interventions to enhance human capital investment and drive sustainable development in India.
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