Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis proposes ‘inverted-U’ shaped association between per capita GDP and climate depletion. The existing literature has already put forth the positive linkage between expanding economic activity and environmental deterioration for developing nations and the reverse for developed nations. But there is hardly any single amalgamated study in the existing literature to examine it for G4 nations—Germany, Japan, India and Brazil. The present study, therefore, examines the impact of macroeconomic indicators (output, energy usage, urbanization and population growth), financial indicators (Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)1, financial market development, stock market capitalization, and FDI), governance indicators (control of corruption, government effectiveness, voice and accountability (as an interacting variable)), and qualitative indicator (GCI innovation) on per capita carbon emissions in G4 nations graphically and empirically by using a mix of both time series and dynamic panel regression techniques for the period 2005-2014. Further, it investigates the causality linkage for G4 nations to find out the impact of emissions on the competitiveness of the nations. This study finds its niche in using unique proxy variables for different indicators considered. The results confirm EKC postulation partially. Additionally, government effectiveness is found to be negatively associated with per capita emissions as expected. Most of the financial indicators are found to have ambiguous linkage with emissions. The robustness of the results is further confirmed using Sargan testing. The study highlights the relevance of making climate change policies as the mainstream goal for global governance through increased carbon spacing.