The interlinkage between land resources, food, water, income, and sustainable environment: Evidence from China's economy with COP27 perspective

China, the most populous country across the globe, has emerged as one of the biggest economies; however, regarding food production, water, uplifting the income level, and attaining environmental sustainability, the policymakers are still concerned. China's government has worked immensely on eradicating poverty through increasing food production, ensuring access to clean water, and using land resources. Similar steps are taken about environmental protection. In this regard, China needs more empirical evidence to tackle such an environmentally destructive issue and sustainable natural resource use. The present study investigates the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) while considering the importance of natural resources, food production and export, and water productivity in environmental quality. This research also explores the impact of tourism, energy use, and renewable energy output on carbon emissions in China during 1990–2021. This research authenticates the variables' stationarity and the long-term equilibrium relationship between the study factors using the pre-estimation diagnostic approaches. This study employed several parametric approaches and revealed that the EKC paradox is invalid in the case of China and vice versa in the presence of natural resources and food and water variables. Natural resources are the key hazard in attaining a sustainable regional environment and development. By contrast, increased economic growth and energy consumption also enhance the country's pollution level. In distinction, renewable electricity output, tourism industry, food production, and food export are the substantial drivers of attaining COP27 targets. Based on the study findings, this research recommends enhancement in sustainable food production and water management, improved production and consumption of renewables, reduced consumption of outdated energy, sustainable use of non-renewable resources, and facilitated tourism across the country.