The proposed research identified the influence of ESG practices on the sustainability of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) economies, concentrating on the mechanisms of green innovation and financial development. The research investigates the function of green innovation as an intermediary in the correlation between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance and sustainable development. The study further examines if financial growth serves as a moderating variable that influences the strength of this relationship.  This paper employs panel data from BRICS nations, covering [2016-2024], to examine the dynamic interactions of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) acceptance, green innovation activities, and the complexity of the financial system, utilizing rigorous econometric methodologies. The secondary data extracted from World Bank indicators for five BRICS countries shows that the use of ESG methods significantly improves sustainability performance. The main reason is because they support green innovation, which is a wonderful way to make money and benefit the environment at the same time. When environmental, social, and governance (ESG) challenges drive green innovation, it has a stronger impact on economies that are more developed. In order to sustain long-term growth, this underscores how crucial it is for financial systems to perform well. The current body of research improves by combining ESG, innovation, and FD into a single framework for sustainability, and this provides policymakers, investors, and business leaders in developing countries useful information.

Dr. Halima Begum is an Assistant Professor (Expert UUM) in the Department of Finance, School of Economics, Finance, and Banking (SEFB), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM)—an AMBA and AACSB-accredited business school recognized as the Best Eminent Management University. She has over 11 years of research and 16 years of teaching experience across Malaysia, Bangladesh, and internationally, specializing in Sustainability, Financial Sustainability, Environmental Economics, Islamic Microfinance, Green Banking, Techno-Finance, and Economic Development. Dr. Begum obtained her Ph.D. in Environmental Management from the National University of Malaysia (UKM), focusing on sustainable development and environmental-financial linkages. During her tenure at UKM, she served as a Research Scholar at the Centre for Research & Innovation Management (CRIM) and as a Research Associate at the Centre for Good Governance (CGG). Before joining UUM, she lectured at Southern University Bangladesh and taught professional finance programs such as CAT and ACCA. At UUM, she has coordinated courses, reviewed curricula in FinTech and Sustainable Finance, and supervised undergraduate, E-MBA, MSc (Research), and PhD candidates, with three research students successfully graduated. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes technology-enhanced and blended learning models such as HyFlex, fostering student engagement through applied, research-oriented learning.

Dr. Begum holds several prestigious international affiliations. She is a Visiting Researcher at the Centre for European Economy, Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC), and an International Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Additionally, she is an Associate Research Fellow at the Center for Sustainability Research (CSRC)—a Pakistan-Malaysia-Lebanon collaborative institute. She serves as a Board Member of the World Association of Professors on Sustainability Science and Research (WASP-SSR) and the European School of Sustainability Science and Research (ESSSR), HAW Hamburg, and as an Advisory Board Member for the IFN Islamic Sustainable Finance & Investment Forum (2022). Dr. Begum is actively involved in academic publishing and editorial leadership. She is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management and Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research: Water, Energy, Food and Environment (Emerald, Scopus/WoS Q1) and a Editor for Frontiers in Environmental Science and Frontiers in Sustainability. Her editorial expertise supports advancing interdisciplinary scholarship in climate change, sustainable finance, and environmental policy. She has produced over 100 research outputs, including 38 indexed journal papers (ISI WoS Q1–Q4, Scopus), 36 proceedings, and 8 book chapters, published with leading publishers such as Springer, Emerald, Elsevier, MDPI, and SAGE. Her work has earned more than 1800 citations and an H-index of 19, demonstrating significant academic impact.

An active global collaborator, Dr. Begum is listed among the World’s Sustainability Researchers (HAW Hamburg) and works with research consortia such as ENASRC, GERBRAS-SCIENCENET, and UK-CSR. She has delivered keynote speeches at international conferences in Asia and Europe and received awards including the GSFN Researcher Award (2024) and UUM Best Teacher Award (2021 & 2022). Through her teaching, research, and editorial contributions, Dr. Halima Begum continues to advance global dialogue in sustainability, finance, and development, bridging academia and policy toward inclusive and environmentally responsible growth.