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Green intellectual capital is broadly acknowledged as an invaluable resource for attaining a strategic advantage for enterprises. This article develops a novel theoretical framework to assess the impact of green intellectual capital on firms’ performance through green innovation and environmental performance, considering the “natural resource-based view (NRBV)” theory.

This paper applied a “quantitative research design” with a sample of 405 managers and owners of “small and medium enterprises” (SMEs) from NCR (India). The data were analyzed through the “covariance-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)” technique.

The outcomes showed that green human capital and green structural capital substantially impact green innovation and environmental performance. Nevertheless, green relational capital negatively affects green innovation and environmental performance. Additionally, green innovation and environmental performance significantly influence firm (market and financial) performance.

This article delivers fruitful and actionable insights for SME managers, owners, academicians and policymakers in measuring a firm’s capability to translate resources into green intellectual capital from the “Industrial Revolution 4.0” viewpoint to empower its innovation, environmental and firm performance.

The study pioneered the exploration of the different roles of green intellectual capital and green innovation in improving environmental and firm (“market and financial”) performance. Additionally, to the researchers’ best knowledge, no former research has earlier categorized the firm performance into “market and financial performance,” as outlined in this research, thereby contributing novel insights to the field of intellectual capital.