Search

Fiscal decentralization is perceived as a viable strategy for fostering economic growth in Pakistan. Concerns persist regarding its potential impact on environmental quality, particularly in relation to increased carbon emissions. Employing diverse analytical methods such as structural vector autoregressive (SVAR) modeling and autoregressive moving average model evaluations, this study comprehensively explores the dynamic relationships among fiscal decentralization, economic development, and environmental quality over the period 1979–2019. Intriguing trends emerge, revealing positive correlations between environmental efficiency and variables, including revenue collection, tax autonomy, and transfer payments. Conversely, a negative correlation is observed between government spending and economic growth. The interplay of these variables results in oscillations in the influence of fiscal decentralization on carbon emissions, presenting a complex challenge for policymakers. Notably, positive fiscal decentralization shocks lead to an increase in carbon emissions, while positive expenditure decentralization and economic development correlate with decreased carbon emissions. Despite economic growth's statistically significant negative impact on carbon emissions, the intricate nature of the relationships underscores the complexity of the link between fiscal decentralization, economic expansion, and environmental outcomes. From a policy perspective, the study emphasizes the need to adjust fiscal policies and coordinate intergovernmental fiscal ties across all government levels to enhance environmental efficiency. These findings provide policymakers with valuable insights to navigate the intricate landscape of fiscal decentralization and its environmental implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of environmental degradation has become pertinent and the call for carbon neutrality has intensified in recent years. Achieving this target will require countries to meet the conditions of the sustainable development goals. To do this, the study applied spatiotemporal modelling and the generalized method of moments (GMM) to examine the nexus between economic growth (EG) and the load capacity factor (LCF) through environmental goods (ENG) and environmental tax (ENT) among European Union (EU) nations from 1995 to 2018. The findings demonstrate that spatial dependence leads to a change in EG and LCF that impacts the EG and LCF of the neighbouring countries. The study also found that there is a significant positive and bidirectional relationship between economic growth and load capacity factor. Moreover, the study revealed that a positive effect of ENG, ENT, REN and Human Capital Index (HCI) on EG, with a reducing effect from natural resource rents (NRR). Finally, HCI improves environmental quality, while ENG, ENT, REN and NRR degrade the environment. Our findings justify the need for EU countries and other developed nations to implement policies that will help achieve a green economic transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the modernized world, stimulating economic growth and employment without endangering environmental sustainability remains a fundamental challenge for developing and newly industrialized economies. This current study investigates the dynamic connections between income growth, unemployment, and environmental deterioration in Turkey within the environmental Phillips and Kuznets curve frameworks. The study employs a novel econometric technique, the augmented autoregressive distributed lag (A-ARDL) model, and examines annual time-series data from 1980 to 2018. To the best of the authors' knowledge, no study has tested the validity of the environmental Phillips curve (EPC) hypothesis (a novel approach linking unemployment with environmental pollution) for Turkey. Another concern with the existing research is that only a few papers simultaneously analyze the EPC and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypotheses and consider the significance of the ecological footprint. Therefore, the study utilizes ecological footprint as an environmental degradation indicator and tests these two hypotheses by setting six models that control renewable energy consumption, natural resource rents, financial development, foreign direct investments, and urbanization to provide more reliable and consistent results. Empirical evidence from the multiple models justifies the validity of both hypotheses in the short and long run. The results also suggest that natural resource rents increase the ecological footprint, while urbanization contributes to environmental quality. Nonetheless, renewable energy, foreign direct investments, and financial development have no significant environmental impact. These outcomes suggest that a rise in employment not accompanied by green energy technologies, higher environmental awareness, a well-educated labor force, and expanded renewable energy utilization may impede the country from attaining its long-term development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raising economic growth is the primary concern of most of countries especially the developing and emerging economies in order to enhance the living standard of people. However, increase in economic activities increases energy demand which rise carbon dioxide emissions and leads to environmental degradation. Technological innovations might be the remedy to overcome the issue of increased carbon dioxide emission by reducing energy use, raise energy efficiency and also push economic growth activities efficiently. In this regard, this study explores the interrelationship of technological innovation, carbon dioxide emissions, and economic growth from 1985 to 2019 in 35 Belt and Road countries. The study uses ordinary least squares, two-step system generalized method of moments, two-step difference generalized method of moments, seemingly unrelated regression, and three-stage least square models for analysis. The results indicate that technological innovations increase economic growth and enhance environmental quality. Foreign direct investment also increases economic growth while degrading environmental quality. Economic growth increases technological innovation while exerting harmful effects on the quality of the environment. The impact of trade on economic growth is positive, while financial development reduces economic growth. School enrollment has a significant and positive effect and increases technological innovation, while foreign direct investment and research and development reduce it. The results also confirm that research and development expenditures significantly reduce carbon emissions and enhance environmental quality. The findings of this study have considerable policy implications for the sample countries with respect to economic growth, technological innovations, and environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the dual interaction between economic growth and environmental quality in an endogenous growth model. We exhibit multiple equilibria and complex local and global dynamics, resulting in potential indeterminacy, hysteresis effects, or long-lasting growth and environmental cycles. From a policy perspective, we reveal that changes in the environmental policy should be handled with care, as they may generate aggregate instability or condemn the economy to an environmental poverty trap associated with a possible irreversibility of environmental degradation. Lastly, our analysis provides a reassessment of pollution taxes, which are found to improve long-run economic growth when the model is well-determined, but reduce it in the presence of indeterminacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the impact of GDP per capita, domestic credit, savings, and population on the environment in Pakistan from 1995 to 2019. The country has consistently been ranked eighth, fifth, and eight as an environmentally vulnerable nation from 1998 to 2017, 1999 to 2018, and 2000 to 2019, respectively. Therefore, the study explores the role of environmental awareness as a potential strategy for making peace with nature. Findings of the ARDL bounds testing approach confirm the long-run cointegration among variables of concern. In further assessment, the study determines that increased per capita income is detrimental to environmental quality in the long run. However, in the short run, it shows a favourable impact. On the other hand, domestic credit worsens the environment in the long and short runs. However, savings are positively insignificant in this regard. Furthermore, the total population significantly harms the environment in the long and short run. Fortunately, environmental awareness has emerged as a key solution to environmental degradation in Pakistan. Findings show that an increase in the dissemination of environmental awareness through the Internet, mobile, and landline phones, as well as by increasing education expenditures, mitigates the populations' detrimental impact on the environment and improves environmental quality in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the interplay between environmental quality and healthcare spending in five North African countries from 1990 to 2019, considering key socioeconomic variables as determinants. We observe a growing trend in healthcare expenditure, signaling a dedication to improving healthcare systems. Nevertheless, sporadic declines, particularly post-2010 in Libya and Tunisia, highlight the vulnerability of healthcare infrastructure to external shocks, underlining the synergy between healthcare, political stability, and economic development. Simultaneously, the study underscores the potential threat of CO2 emissions to healthcare costs, emphasizing the intrinsic connection between environmental quality and healthcare expenses. Income significantly propels healthcare spending, mirroring the region's pursuit of enhanced living standards and healthcare access. Notably, investments in healthcare infrastructure play a substantial role. Furthermore, the adverse impact of trade openness on healthcare spending stresses the importance of equitable resource allocation and effective healthcare policy implementation. The positive influence of population density underscores the need for tailored healthcare strategies addressing the region's diverse healthcare requirements. Additionally, the U-shaped relationship between healthcare expenditure and CO2 emissions suggests that the studied countries have low pollution levels and have not incurred significant healthcare costs from emissions. However, as they grow economically, environmental conservation becomes crucial to avert harm and resource depletion. While acknowledging limitations like data quality and the need for a more extended time series analysis, a comprehensive approach to healthcare systems, and a holistic view of environmental factors, this study significantly contributes to comprehending the dynamics of healthcare spending, environmental quality, and economic development in North Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the complex interactions between the economy and the environment is crucial for promoting sustainable development and mitigating the negative impact of human activities on the Planet. The importance of this issue for Serbia is evident as the country strives to balance economic growth and environmental protection to ensure a sustainable and resilient future. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to investigate and model the relationship between CO2 emissions, economic growth, electricity consumption, and trade openness in Serbia. Initially, an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is used to characterize the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) using data from the period from 1995 to 2019, followed by the construction of a bootstrap logistic regression model to predict environmental quality in Serbia. Long-term estimates of the model confirm an inverted U-shaped relationship, where all three variables exert a statistically significant influence on CO2 emissions. In the short run, however, a causal relationship is only observed between electricity consumption and CO2 emissions. The logistic regression results show that all three factors significantly influence environmental quality. The study proposes policy recommendations for Serbia, such as promoting sustainable economic growth, implementing long-term programs to reduce CO2 emissions, reviewing trade policies to prioritize sustainable practices, and investing in renewable energy sources to reduce emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship among ecological footprint (EF), electricity consumption, and GDP in China using annual data ranging from 1960 to 2019. However, factors like trade openness, urbanization, and life expectancy might increase EF as ecological distortions are mainly human-induced. This study explores the effect of these variables on the environment, which is captured by EF. Quantile Regression estimates indicate that electricity consumption and real GDP increase environmental degradation, while trade and urbanization reduce EF, allowing for a higher environmental quality. On the other hand, the spectral Granger-causality tests reveal that only urbanization and life expectancy affect environmental degradation over the whole frequency domain. In the current geopolitical scenario, relevant policy implications may be derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the world, accounting for more than 30% of global GDP and 60% of world population. The economic growth of BRI member countries can be improved significantly, attributable to the successfulness of the infrastructure projects. The increased economic growth indirectly leads to higher energy consumption and environmental damage. In response to this, the BRI established a new concept and version of the project, namely green BRI. Thus, this study aims to examine if green finance plays a significant role in mitigating environmental degradation in the BRI region. Utilising a Generalised Method of Moments approach, we find green finance is negatively and significantly correlated with environmental degradation, suggesting green finance play an essential role to reduce the deterioration of environmental quality, while enhancing economic growth at the same time. In conclusion, BRI member states should continue promoting green finance by implementing incentive schemes, such as subsidising interest rates for the green loan, reducing corporate tax and establishing green credit guarantee scheme. Besides, in order simultaneously enhance economic growth, promote sustainability and achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, both governments and private sector should work hand in hand to promote green transformation of BRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the globe strives to solve severe environmental challenges, the concept of a low-carbon economy that prioritizes low energy use, little pollution, and sustainable development is gaining support. The supply chain management industry is not safe from the possibilities and threats posed by this new development. In light of the emerging norm, it is imperative that all supply chain links be economically and ecologically sustainable. For conventional businesses, ensuring environmental advantages and practicing the issue of equitably dividing supply network node profits is exacerbated by green supply chain management. This paper was prompted by the increasing need for information on green supply chain management (GSCM). GSCM is based on the idea of incorporating ecological considerations into traditional SCM practices. Therefore, GSCM is vital in shaping the cumulative environmental effect of businesses engaged in supply chain operations. To assess environmental sustainability requirements, we provide a best-worst method (BWM), a subset of China-based sectors in order to fill this void. The BWM was used to evaluate and quantify the impact of a variety of industrial operations and criteria on environmental quality. To make sure this approach is effective and reliable, we polled 34 experts for their input on which indications from our preliminary literature analysis would be most useful. This study's findings, supported by a sensitivity analysis, indicated stated "waste management" was the single most important indication for China-area businesses to achieve environmental sustainability. The results of this study provide industry managers, decision-makers, and practitioners with the information they need to choose areas of focus during the implementation phase that will have the most impact on promoting social sustainability in their organizational supply chain and moving toward sustainable growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial development is a multidimensional process that contributes to economic growth but sometimes it has a devastating effect on climate change. No country can achieve sustainable development goals without caring the environmental quality. The present study investigates the moderating role of globalization (KOF) in determining the financial development (FD) on environmental degradation in the SAARC countries from 1990 to 2020. The long-run coefficients are estimated using the panel quantile regression (PQR) approach at lower, middle and upper quantile groups. The study shows the U-shaped relationship across three quantile groups based on financial development and carbon emissions. The moderator globalization (KOF) brings up the change in the turning point and flattens before the maturity of the U-shaped curve at the middle quantile while flattens after the maturity of the U-shaped curve at the upper quantile. The study recommends that by using energy-efficient technologies, better financial sector interaction with globalization enhances the environmental quality in SAARC countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing global environmental concerns requires the widespread adoption of renewable energy sources. More research is needed to examine the relationships between renewable energy (RE) and globalization, economic growth, and environmental quality in Indonesia. Therefore, we examined how renewable energy usage in Indonesia has changed due to the dynamic effects of globalization, financial development, and environmental quality. Time-series data were analyzed using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to test for cointegration and long-run/short-run dynamics between 1990 and 2020. In addition to ARDL bounds testing, we used the Johansen and Engle-Granger cointegration methods for confirmation. Globalization, financial progress, human capital, greenhouse gas emissions, and economic expansion have favorable long- and short-term effects on renewable energy sources. Globalization has enabled Indonesia to expand trade, FDI, and financial investment. It has also increased energy-efficient technology use due to environmental policies. The computed results are robust enough to substitute estimators, such as dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), fully modified least squares (FMOLS), and canonical cointegrating regression (CCR). We recommend the implementation of policies that support financial and environmental development by utilizing renewable resources and increasing investments in renewable energy ventures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper's main objective is to investigate the effect of stock market growth and green energy on GHG emissions. Further, this research empirically analyzes the effects of renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions in the EKC hypothesis using data from BRICS countries (China, India, Russia, Brazil, and South Africa) from 1990 to 2019. The empirical analysis was carried out on the second-generation unit root test. The bootstrap panel integration method is used to verify long-term equilibrium connections between elements of all four models. The empirical results confirm a significant long-run flexibility study's findings that green energy improves environmental circumstances by lowering carbon pollution levels across the panel regions. Additionally, renewable energy consumption significantly decreases carbon dioxide emissions and increases financial output through the panels. Instead, the stock market expansion index fell carbon pollution in BRICS countries while increasing carbon pollution in India member country. In general, fixed capital formation and economic expansion degrade environmental quality by rising carbon pollution concentrations. This paper's results have significant and effective policy implications for promoting renewable energy consumption sources to help reduce CO2 emissions and ensure sustainable economic growth in the BRICS nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a new global economic force, has struggled to achieve a dual objective of enhanced economic growth and improved environmental quality. Financial development is generally considered an important tool in achieving these simultaneous objectives. This paper examines the response mechanism and the inter-relationship between the ASEAN region's financial development, energy consumption, and economic growth. Unlike previous studies, the paper uses a generalized method of moments panel vector autoregression (GMM-panel VAR) framework for the 1981–2021 period. The second-generation Granger causality test is used to identify their causality relationship. Economic growth supports financial development and reduces energy consumption from fossil fuel sources in the ASEAN countries. Financial development also reduces fossil fuel energy consumption. The bi-directional relationship between economic growth and fossil fuel energy consumption exists. Energy consumption and financial development are also bi-directionally linked. However, only the unidirectional Granger causality from economic growth to financial development is found. The variance decomposition analysis results confirm that economic growth accounts for the most significant variance in fossil fuel energy consumption and financial development in the ASEAN countries. Policy implications have emerged based on these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between economic growth and environmental pollution continues to attract significant research interest for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers all over the globe. Theoretically, the environmental benefit of economic growth should be greater than its negative externality with higher level of development. However, from the African perspective, countries with higher economic performances often face several environmental challenges, which raises the doubt whether economic growth helps or constrains environmental quality improvement. Under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis, this study re-examined the effect of economic growth on CO2 emissions conditional on the dynamics of urbanization, renewable energy, and good governance across 47 African countries using panel data from 1996 to 2019. We employ panel cointegration tests to establish whether there is a long-run equilibrium relationship among our variables. We also apply pooled mean group ARDL (PMG-ARDL) techniques and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test to determine the long- and short-run effects of economic growth, urbanization, renewable energy consumption, and good governance on CO2 emissions. The results from the PMG estimator validate the EKC hypothesis since a 1% surge in GDP per capita increases emissions by 0.61% in the long run, while a 1% increase in its square decreases emissions by 0.03%. In the short-run, economic growth does not exercise any significant effect on emissions. Furthermore, results indicate a significantly negative and positive long-run effect of renewable energy and governance, respectively. Finally, our causality test shows bidirectional relationship between CO2 emissions and all the explanatory variables. Henceforth, we provided policy implications based on the study's results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reducing carbon emissions is a critical approach for attaining global environmental sustainability and combating climate change. To investigate how energy, population, industry, and economic structure affect environmental quality. This study collects panel data for 90 Belt and Road (B&R) nations from 1995 to 2021. For the first time, the nonlinear dynamic impacts of renewable energy, newborn birth rate, industrialization, and economic growth on carbon emissions are investigated using a threshold panel model and a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model. According to the study's findings: (1) models 1–4 demonstrate that all structural factors have substantial threshold impacts on carbon emissions, demonstrating a nonlinear connection. (2) Carbon emissions are negatively impacted by energy structure (renewable energy) and population structure (newborn birth rate). Industrial structure (industrialization) and economic structure (economic growth), on the other hand, have a beneficial influence on carbon emissions. However, when the structural variables grow in size, their threshold effects all increase this contribution. (3) In three groups of nations with varying wealth levels, differences in the influence intensity of structural factors on carbon emissions, particularly renewable energy and economic growth, were detected. The impact of renewable energy on carbon emissions is: middle-income (MI) countries > high-income countries (HI) > low-income countries (LI). The impact of economic growth on carbon emissions is MI countries > LI countries > HI countries. Based on the findings, relevant policy recommendations are provided to the policy makers of the "B&R" countries from the perspectives of structural factors and heterogeneity. It provides certain references for the realization of global environmentally sustainable development strategies and the coordinated development of economic, social and environmental systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to address pertinent economic and environmental issues associated with natural gas flaring, especially for the world's leading natural gas flaring economies (i.e. Russia, Iraq, Iran, the United States, Algeria, Venezuela, and Nigeria). By applying relevant empirical panel and country-specific approaches, the study found that fuel energy export positively impacts economic growth with elasticity of ~ 0.22 to ~ 0.24 for the panel examination. It is further revealed that environmental quality in the panel is hampered by increase in economic growth, gas flaring, fuel energy export, and urbanization. Moreover, for the country-wise inference, government quality desirably moderates economic and environmental aspects of gas flaring in Venezuela and Nigeria, and in Russia and Iran respectively. However, government quality moderates gas flaring to cause economic downturn in the USA. Additionally, economic growth increased with increase in urbanisation (in Iraq and the USA), gas flaring (in Iran and the USA), government quality (only in the USA), and fuel energy export (only in Algeria) while economic growth downturn is due to increase urbanisation in Russia and the USA, increase in fuel energy export in the USA, and increase in government quality in Russia. Meanwhile, environmental quality is worsened through intense carbon dioxide emission from increased urbanisation activity (in Iraq, Iran, Algeria, and Nigeria), increased fuel energy export (in Nigeria), increased natural gas flaring (in Algeria and Nigeria), increased GDP (in Russia, Iran, USA, Algeria, and Venezuela), and high government quality (in Iran). Interestingly, the result revealed that increase in GDP (in Nigeria), increase in urbanisation (in the USA), and increase in gas flaring (in Algeria and Nigeria) dampens environmental quality. Importantly, this study offers policy insight into sustainable approaches in natural gas production, government effectiveness, and regulatory quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial inclusion is critical element of economic growth as it makes financial services available to all facets of society and hence has an influence on environmental quality. Using data from 2004 to 2019, this research evaluates the asymmetric nexus between financial inclusion and environmental quality in the top-10 polluted nations (China, India, Russia, USA, Japan, Iran, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Indonesia). Previous research used panel data approaches, which resulted in usual findings of the connection between financial inclusion and environmental quality, even with the reality that numerous nations did not show such a linkage individually. This research, conversely, utilizes an exclusive method 'Quantile-on-Quantile (QQ)', which permits us to probe each nation distinctly to provide multilateral yet country-specific information about the relation between the variables. The estimations demonstrate that financial inclusion degrades environmental quality in 7 out of the 10 economies at many quantiles of data distribution. Additionally, the outcomes reveal that the degree of asymmetry between financial inclusion and carbon emissions differs by nation, stressing the need of governments giving particular attention while implementing policies related to financial inclusion and a sustainable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, environmental issues have become controversial, and policymakers are discovering new predictors of carbon emissions. Some economists/researchers have advocated for fiscal decentralization to improve the quality of the environment by offering more financial authority to provincial/local and sub-national governments. Therefore, this work aims to inspect the effect of fiscal decentralization on economic growth and environmental quality in India by taking data from 1996 to 2021. This work applies both ARDL and NARDL econometric models for empirical examination. The findings of this study suggest that expenditure decentralization has asymmetric long-term and short-term consequences on economic growth, and carbon emission in India. The result of the asymmetric ARDL model also indicates that positive and negative shock in expenditure decentralization contrarily affects economic growth and carbon emission. Moreover, the positive and negative shock in revenue decentralization helps in reducing carbon emissions both in the long run and short run in India. These outcomes are useful for policy analysis from the Indian economic policy perspective. The study also laid out potential outcomes that may benefit India's local governments and central government in resolving the issues of economic growth and environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the relationship between environmental rationality and economic activities that accelerate environmental indicators in Asia. In the ecosphere, the environment is a predator of human consumption. The continent Asia holding more than 60% of the world's population is vulnerable to environmental deployment. The purpose of the study is to find the link between economic growth, globalization, biocapacity, energy intensity, and renewable energy to the ecological footprint (EFP) in Asian countries for the period of 1990–2017. For empirics, the econometric techniques applied are panel OLS, fixed effects, random effects, fully modified-OLS, DOLS, and generalized methods of moments techniques. The results prove that by increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption the environmental quality is improved. The Pedroni cointegration test shows a long-term relationship exists between globalization, economic growth, and the environment. The results of all techniques show the similar effectiveness of all used economic indicators in the model that disturbs the environment with different intensities in each test. The results of FM-OLS show that with a 1% increase in economic growth, globalization, biocapacity, and population density the ecological footprint increases by 0.55%, 0.08%, 0.06%, and 0.03%, respectively. However, renewable energy improves the environment by 0.04%. The Granger causality analysis revealed a bidirectional causality between ecological footprint and globalization and between EFP and energy intensity. This study recommends that Asian countries should make sustainable environmental policies to protect the environment from further damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of financial development and economic growth on ecological footprint by including non-renewable energy consumption and trade openness as additional determinants. For this purpose, annual data of 10 countries with the highest ecological footprint (China, the USA, India, Japan, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Korea, Turkey, and the UK) for the period 1992–2017 is used. The Westerlund and Edgerton (2007) Panel LM bootstrap test results reveal that there is cointegration between the variables. Additionally, the results obtained from the Common Correlated Effects (CCE) coefficient estimator show that financial development, economic growth, and non-renewable energy consumption negatively affect environmental quality by increasing ecological footprint. On other hand, the effect of trade openness on ecological footprint is found to be statistically insignificant. In addition, according to the panel causality test results, a unidirectional causality from financial development to ecological footprint is found while bidirectional causality between economic growth and ecological footprint exists. Therefore, it would be beneficial for policymakers in such countries to direct financial resources to green energy production and consumption and to encourage projects and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current world is seeking balance between achieving economic and financial growth and shielding earth's environment. The 13th goal (climate action) among 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is an outcome of the same concern. The ample body of the literature tries to analyse the inter-linkages among financial development, economic growth, globalisation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but their results do not reach a consensus. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations have emerged as a dominant force in recent years, but their growth stories are tainted with the increased environmental issues. The present study tries to analyse the same nexus from 1991 to 2020 using Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach for BRICS nations. The empirical findings suggest strong long-run and short-run positive implications of financial development, and negative implications of economic growth and globalisation on GHG emissions in all four nations except China. The study is distinct as it extensively analyses the interdependence between GHG emissions and financial development using 9 different sub-indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the developing and emerging countries are focusing to increase economic growth, enhance the living standard of the people, and reduce income inequality. Increasing economic growth through the factors such as agriculture, energy use for production, and other related activities can harm the environment. Considering this situation, this study utilizes data from the Belt and Road Initiative countries for the period of 1999 and 2018 to explore the nexus between income inequality, agricultural value added, and carbon dioxide using two-step system GMM model. The findings of the study indicate that income inequality, economic growth, energy consumption, and agriculture significantly contribute to an increase in carbon emissions and a decrease in environmental quality. On the other hand, the findings also indicate that manufacturing and service industries significantly contribute to an improvement in environmental quality by reducing carbon emissions. The findings lend even more credence to the environmental Kuznets curve, but the results do not indicate that there is a strong relationship between income inequality and economic growth. The outcomes of this study have crucial policy implications for the sample countries to build environmental regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy is an indispensable requirement for the sustainable development of countries. Turkey has been trying to increase the use of renewable sources in electricity energy production with the policies it has implemented recently. This study investigates the effect of disaggregate energy consumption on economic growth in Turkey via the Augmented ARDL. Robust results are obtained by Augmented ARDL in econometric analysis. In this context, it is to examine the impact of renewable energy, natural gas, and coal consumption. Considering the 2001 crisis in Turkey, we add a dummy variable to the cointegration equation. The paper employs the recently developed augmented ARDL approach in the presence of one structural break to investigate annual time series data during the period 1988–2018. The results obtained in this study showed that all variables were statistically significant eventually. Long-term estimation results suggest that among the energy sources examined in the study, on economic growth has a positive effect coal consumption, natural gas consumption, and renewable energy. Moreover, empirical results indicated that economic growth and energy consumption also contribute to environmental damage. On the contrary, natural gas both increases economic growth and is effective in increasing environmental quality. The fact that the positive effect of renewable energy sources on economic growth eventually is greater than natural gas is the most striking finding of the study. In line with these results, it can be said that Turkey can reduce its energy dependence by increasing the use of domestic and renewable energy sources and providing sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Each economic factor generates both positive and negative externalities regarding environmental quality. Owing to this, the current study aims to explore the impacts of various economic variables on the environmental quality of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. By sampling the 24 years (1996–2019) financial statistics of six GCC region countries, we investigate the impact of economic growth, foreign investment, trade volume, tourism investment and revenue, and electricity production on CO2 emissions. The empirical analysis is based upon dynamic least square and fully modified ordinary least square model due to the existence of cointegration. Following the results, economic growth, foreign investment, tourism investment, electricity production, and population density have a positive impact, while trade volume and banking development have a negative impact on the volume of CO2 emissions. The results support the pollution haven hypothesis in the GCC region and have many policies for environmental economists regarding the protection of the natural environment in the long run. In parallel to economic growth, the policy officials from the GCC region should focus on environmental sustainability. They should exert more effort for developing sustainable economic growth policies. The current analysis offers new insights regarding the dynamic role of various economic factors in establishing the CO2 emission volume in the GCC region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the long-run asymmetric impact of energy productivity on environmental quality in Ireland. The data set covers the period from 1990Q1 to 2019Q4. Although the border issue has been the source of contention and terrorism for decades in Ireland, the country is conscious of modern innovations and has a coherent body of environmental law. Ireland's goal is to achieve 80% of its electricity as renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions by 51% in 2030. Unlike earlier studies, the novelty of this study lies in the thorough analysis of how energy productivity affects the quality of the environment in Ireland while controlling for financial development, primary energy consumption, and economic growth utilizing the nonlinear ARDL approach and other robust econometric techniques. Precisely, the results indicate that (i) energy productivity benefits the environment by lowering CO2 emissions (CO2E) in the long term; (ii) financial sector development enhances the quality of the environment in Ireland; (iii) increase in primary energy consumption and economic growth without eco-friendly protocols propel an increase in CO2E. These findings support the economic theory that energy productivity can stimulate steady green living and green technological growth. We recommend that policymakers in Ireland invest in energy productivity and prioritize R&D that embraces cleaner technologies and cross-cutting eco-friendly policies to combat environmental challenges in Ireland and the world at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ICTs (information and communication technologies) have emerged as a potent new force. Digitalization, modernization, and automation of the manufacturing process are expected to facilitate ICT adoption, resulting in increased genuine environmental concerns. This research aims to examine the impact of ICTs on environmental quality and the relationship between ICTs, environmental quality, and economic growth. Dynamic panel threshold regression was employed, and the sample countries comprised 69 developing countries from 2010 to 2019. The threshold technique will identify the precise threshold value of ICTs and highlights the impacts of ICTs on the environmental quality nexus when above and below the threshold value in developing countries. Empirical evidence suggests that ICTs positively impact environmental quality (CO2) when above the ICTs threshold value. However, ICTs provide a positive but insignificant impact on environmental quality when below the ICTs threshold value of 4.699. Additionally, ICTs affect the economic growth and environmental quality nexus, with increasing economic growth resulting in a decrease in CO2 emissions in developing countries when ICTs are below the threshold value. Thus, the ICTs threshold value should be used to ensure that ICTs adoption promotes sustainable economic growth and resolves environmental degradation issues in developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws ardent attention to the Sustainable Development Goal 13 (climate change mitigation) of the United Nations by investigating the CO2 emissions-energy consumption-militarisation-economic growth nexus for South Africa (SA) from 1960 to 2019. The researcher applied frequency domain causality and the novel dynamic autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) simulation approaches to achieve the research objective. The main findings reflected that (i) there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between the variables; (ii) there is no causality between militarisation and energy consumption; (iii) unidirectional causality runs from militarisation to economic growth; (iv) there is no causality between militarisation and CO2 emissions; and (v) unidirectional causality runs from energy consumption to economic growth. The dynamic ARDL simulations' main results suggest that (i) in the short-run, a positive and insignificant relationship exist between militarisation and CO2 emissions. Conversely, a negative and significant relationship was recorded in the long-run. Thus, the treadmill theory of destruction is not valid for SA. (ii) In the short-run, economic growth has a positive and significant impact on CO2 emissions, while in the long-run, economic growth has a negative and significant impact on CO2 emissions. This implies the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis holds for SA. Overall, this research suggests a synergy between defence, energy, growth, and environmental policies in the short- and long-run to promote and maintain environmental quality in SA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most emerging economies and the South American Countries are no exception to the negative consequences of trade-off between economic growth and environmental sustainability decisions. This study draws strength from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs-7, 11, 12, and 13). Therefore, this study examines the environmental nexus between economic growth, globalization, renewable, and non-renewable energy, in South America from 1995 to 2020. We deployed the pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effects (DFE). Cross-sectional dependence, panel unit root, and cointegration tests were performed. Finally, we used the Dumitrescu and Hurlin test of causality to determine the long-run association between variables. The finding indicates that while environmental pollution increases with increasing economic growth, it decreases with increasing renewable energy both in the short and long term. Whereas economic globalization positively affects environmental pollution in the long term, social globalization and the moderation effect between political globalization and renewable energy improves environmental quality in the long run. Finally, a bidirectional causality was found between economic growth and environmental pollution, with a unidirectional causality running from economic, political, and social globalization, renewable, and non-renewable energy to environmental pollution. Given these findings, we discussed potential policy measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The intention behind the current analysis is to join the debate over the main factors to consider in the global fight against climate change. Thereby, the Non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) approach is applied to assess the impacts of nuclear energy, fossil fuels, income, and trade on carbon emissions in France from 1980 to 2020. In addition, the relevance of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) presumption is tested. The main results stipulate that nuclear energy lessens CO2 emissions in France. However, fossil fuels and trade openness enhance these emissions. On the other hand, the current analysis confirms the presence of an inverted U-shaped curve relating economic growth to carbon emissions. Therefore, the EKC hypothesis is supported in our case. Indeed, by calculating the turning point, it is possible to extract the turning year corresponding to 2008. Furthermore, an asymmetric causality test is performed in order to identify the possible non-linear causal links between the potential drivers of carbon emissions. First, the causal linkage between CO2 emissions and GDP is bidirectional. Furthermore, a unidirectional causal link between CO2 emissions and non-renewable energies and a dual directional causal link between pollutant emissions and trade are identified. These empirical results are intended to guide the French government in the implementation of relevant energy and trade-related strategies in order to attain the ambitious targets of carbon emissions reduction. In fact, France should reduce imports of fossil fuels to curtail the positive effect of trade on carbon emissions. In addition, it is recommended to substitute fossil energies with renewable energies gradually by using adequate instruments and boosting research and innovation to mitigate the adverse influences of non-renewable energies on environmental quality. Finally, our findings confirm the positive role played by nuclear energy in the fight against climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primarily, the current study seeks to explore the influence of financial development, economic growth, trade openness, non-renewable and renewable energy utilization on carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in Pakistan from 1990 to 2017. The findings of structural break unit root tests indicated that a few variables are stationary at the level and others integrated at the first difference. The bound F-test and Johansen cointegration tests confirmed the evidence that a long-run relationship exists among concerned variables. The long-run results explore that financial development and renewable energy penetration significantly accelerate the environmental quality, while economic growth, non-renewable energy utilization, and trade openness are responsible for deteriorating the environmental quality. The results from the short-run estimate explore that non-renewable energy utilization and trade openness significantly reduce the environmental quality while renewable energy sources are beneficial for environmental quality. Moreover, the current study discovered the unidirectional Granger causality relationship from economic growth, trade openness, non-renewable and renewable energy penetration to carbon emission in Pakistan. The outcomes of this study provide some insightful policy suggestions to overcome the detrimental effect of environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the influence of economic policy uncertainty on environmental quality in selected MENA countries depending on an augmented STIRPAT model over the period 1970–2020. ARDL model and its extensions like augmented ARDL, augmented NARDL, and MTNARDL models are applied to detect any possible effect from uncertainty index to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The empirical results reveal the validity of environmental Kuznet curve (EKC) curve in all the countries. Moreover, the results show that the uncertainty index enhances environmental degradation, especially in extremely large changes in Morocco, Turkey, and Iran. Besides, the findings reveal that energy consumption and population in the entire sample escalates CO2 emissions over the study period. Consequently, policymakers in MENA countries should consider the economic uncertainty index, particularly in light of its recent rise, when developing any strategies and plans aimed at improving environmental standards, as well as the need to encourage the use of renewable energies in order to increase the percentage of their contribution to total energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For accelerating economic growth, the role of electricity production and consumption is undeniable. Thus, the economic growth aspect of electricity consumption has already been well established in the literature. However, the attainment of sustainable economic growth has become an important concern for most countries; mere focus on electricity consumption on economic growth is not sufficient. As a result, impact of electricity production from various sources on economic growth and environmental quality needs to be explore in detail to give direction towards sustainable economic growth. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the impact of electricity production from various sources on Japan's economic growth and environmental quality, spanning from 1966 to 2014. The study used the ARDL bounds testing approach of cointegration to establish the long-run relationship between the variables under consideration. The outcomes emanated from the bound test show the presence of a long-run relationship among the studied variables. Furthermore, the ARDL-based long-run result indicates that electricity generation from coal is not viable for the economy and environment, whereas electricity production from hydro, natural gas, nuclear, and oil sources is found to be viable since it improves the economy and environmental quality in Japan. The robustness of the long-run results is further confirmed by using the fully modified OLS (FMOLS). Therefore, policy formulation related to electricity generation in Japan has to be taken care of both the economic growth and environmental quality angle. Furthermore, the measures for curbing coal based electricity needs to give profound significance while making electricity policy in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the quality of environmental indicators has become a global concern that necessitates the identification of possible channels through which environmental welfare can be enhanced worldwide. Against this backdrop, this current study aims to elucidate the environmental effects of ethnic diversity, controlling for financial development, urbanization, economic growth, and energy consumption in the context of 51 less-developed countries during the period from 1996 to 2016. For measuring the environmental impacts, we use both the ecological footprint and carbon dioxide emission figures of these countries. Overall, the cointegration analysis confirms the existence of long-run relationships among the study variables. Besides, the regression analysis reveals that ethnic diversity deteriorates environmental quality by surging the ecological footprint and carbon dioxide emission levels of the selected nations. Similarly, financial development and energy consumption are found to impose identical adversities on the environment while urbanization is evidenced to ensure environmental welfare. Lastly, for both the environmental indicators considered in this study, the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis is verified from the findings. Hence, considering these key outcomes, a set of relevant environmental welfare-related policy interventions are recommended in the context of less-developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the general environmental quality level continues to decline in today's global economy, aggregate energy consumption levels are often linked to countries' economic growth and environmental performances, thereby overlooking the specific roles of individual energy types. Thus, this study focuses on examining nuclear energy consumption-growth nexus in 27 selected nuclear energy–consuming countries across the globe. The system GMM estimator was applied to available post-2008 global financial crisis data spanning from 2010 to 2020 while accounting for influential factor inputs (labor and capital) within the framework of the traditional growth model. The results posit that both capital and labor significantly induce economic growth levels among the countries, while nuclear energy consumption is not a significant driver of growth levels despite some evidence of its positive roles. Hence, more investments in nuclear energy production are recommended to trigger an overall consumption level that will not only yield significant desirable economic growth impacts among the countries but also enhance possible environmental benefits in contrast to the growing environmentally detrimental fossil energy consumption among the countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The association between trade, financial development, consumption of renewable energy, environmental quality, foreign direct investment, and economic growth is important for sustainable growth and environmental strategies. Hence, this research unveils this association in selected low- and high-income economies from 1996 to 2020. Unlike most of the previous literature, this study uses a composite environmental quality index, a composite financial development index, and a composite trade share measure to better represent environmental quality, financial development, and trade openness, respectively. The Continuously Updated Fully Modified and Continuously Updated Bias Corrected estimators along with the Dumitrescu Hurlin causality method are utilized to scrutinize the nature of the linkage between the modeled variables. The long-run estimation provided that consumption of renewable energy and environmental quality augment economic growth in high-income nations, while both these variables do not contribute to the economic growth in low-income countries. Financial development upsurges economic growth in high- as well as low-income nations. Interestingly, trade openness boosts economic growth in high-income countries, while in low-income countries, it obstructs economic growth. In causal linkage, the conservation hypothesis for low-income countries and the feedback hypothesis for high-income countries are confirmed in the context of consumption of renewable energy and economic growth association. The supply-leading hypothesis for low-income countries and the feedback hypothesis for high-income countries are supported regarding the financial development–economic growth nexus. Moreover, one-way causality from growth to environmental quality and bidirectional causality between environmental quality and economic growth for low- and high-income countries are established, respectively. Lastly, exhaustive environmental and economic policies are directed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Upgrading economic structures and producing less pollution-intensive goods are indispensable for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) that produce 41% of global CO2 emissions. Economic complexity (ECC), which measures the sophistication of productivity and economic structure, has important environmental repercussions. Theoretically, the environmental impacts of economic complexity at higher levels and lower levels of complexity vary from each other. However, the majority of previous studies have overlooked these theoretical underpinnings while assessing the environmental repercussions of economic complexity. In addition, technological competencies are necessary to boost the economic complexity levels. Accordingly, this study uncovers the non-linear effects of economic complexity on CO2 emissions including technology, population density, and economic growth in a STIRPAT model. To this end, the panel data from 1992 to 2018 is analyzed using the Continuously Updated Fully Modified method (CuP-FM) in the context of BRICS. The long-run results uncovered that CO2 emissions intensify at a lower level of economic complexity. On the flip side, a higher level of economic complexity is beneficial in mitigating CO2 in BRICS. Hence, the economic complexity and CO2 connections follow an inverted U-shaped curve. The results also disclosed that expanding the level of technology lessens CO2 and stimulates the quality of the environment. Further, population density and economic growth are evidenced to intensify CO2. Moreover, economic complexity and technology Granger cause CO2. Lastly, strategies are directed in the context of Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 13 to control CO2 emissions by upgrading technology and products complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of a circular economy, first discussed by Kenneth Boulding in the 1960s and '70 s and reintroduced by environmental economists David Pearce and R. Kerry Turner in 1990, is a characterization of how goods and services can be produced and consumed in an ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable manner that meets concerns of overuse of resources, waste management, and climate change, inter alia, through the conscious interlinking of disparate economic activities. The notion of circular and cumulative causation (CCC), through which certain positive and negative effects are promoted and reinforced by positive feedbacks, also is not new. George et al. (2015) have presented a theoretical circular economy model of economic growth that leads them to infer that the maintenance or improvement of environmental quality is incompatible with economic growth. However, Donaghy (2021b) has demonstrated how, when sources of CCC are introduced to the model of George et al., a different conclusion may be reached; CCC may be harnessed to bring about desirable systems properties, such as those of a circular market economy. The present paper reviews the arguments and findings of the latter two studies and extends the analysis by introducing trade between three national or regional economies in an environmentally polluting resource, other materials, and recycling technologies. Results of numerical simulation exercises suggest that there could be gains from trade in terms of progress by multiple economies in aggregate towards an international or interregional circular growth economy. The paper also suggests how aspects of the Pearce and Turner model of a circular economy not presently included in theoretical circular economy models of economic growth (closed or open) can be accommodated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental quality and economic activity have a strong relationship. Carbon emissions remain one of the world's most dangerous environmental issues. Both international and local governments are developing initiatives to address this problem. Capitalizing on the limitations of the existing literature, this article investigates the dynamic nexus of financial development, economic growth, and globalization on carbon dioxide emissions in Vietnam for 1990–2020 using the quantile-on-quantile regression. The findings unveil a positive feedback link between globalization and carbon dioxide emissions at the middle and high quantiles. In addition, there is a negative nexus between financial development and carbon emissions at most quantiles, while CO2 emissions and economic growth have a positive association at all quantiles. More importantly, our empirical results also provide the bidirectional causality between financial development, economic growth, globalization, and carbon dioxide emissions in Vietnam at different quantile levels. The consistency of the outcomes uncovers that the findings are trustworthy and appropriate for guiding policy to reduce CO2 emissions in Vietnam. Therefore, they can help policymakers understand how financial development and globalization can achieve sustainable economic growth and tackle environmental issues in this country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a close relationship between natural resources and production in many sectors, and production and consumption can also have an environmental impact. Low environmental quality affects economic growth and well-being. Environmental protection and economic growth cannot be maximized simultaneously. Choosing the right balance between the two aims is imperative for each country. By moderating the role of merchandise trade and manufacturing value-added from 1970 to 2016, we examine the dynamics of China's natural resource rents, environmental sustainability, and sustainable economic growth. Overall, the results of this study indicate that natural resources improve environmental sustainability at the expense of economic growth. In contrast, financial development, merchandise trade, and urban population growth promote environmental degradation. It is vital to understand governance mechanisms to sustain natural resource policies, considering environmental, social, and governance concerns to benefit society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we want to test the impact of financial inclusion on the economic growth and the environmental quality of OBOR economies. We have selected four different proxies of financial inclusion, two from the perspective of the supply side and two from the perspective of the demand side. For empirical analysis, we have applied 2SLS and GMM methods. In the economic growth model, among the variables of financial inclusion, only the variable of ATMS is positively significant in the 2SLS approach; however, when we apply the GMM approach, two variables, i.e., ATMS and branches, are positively significant implying that supply-side financial inclusion is vital for economic growth in OBOR countries. On the other side, the variables of financial inclusion, whether supply side or demand side, exerted a positive impact on the CO2 emissions irrespective of the estimation techniques, i.e., 2SLS and GMM. These findings imply that financial inclusion, in general, causes CO2 emissions to rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preponderance of emerging economies confronts significant trade-offs between economic growth and environmental sustainability considerations, and Turkey is no exception. This study draws strength from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs-7,11,12 & 13). To this end, the present study explores the role of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for the case of Turkey for annual frequency data from 1970 to 2020. The present study leverages on the novel dynamic autoregressive-distributed lag (DARDL) methodology and Bayer and Hanck combined cointegration test. The combined Bayer and Hanck cointegration test alongside ARDL bounds test traces equilibrium relationship between economic growth, urbanization, FDI, energy use, and CO2 emission over the investigated period. Empirical results from the DARDL simulation analysis validates the EKC hypothesis. These results suggest that environmental quality is being compromised for economic growth at the earlier stage of economic growth (scale stage). The EKC phenomenon is affirmed as a 1% increase in economic growth increase emission level by 0.1580% and quadratic economic growth decrease emission by 0.1095% in the short and long run, respectively. Similarly, urbanization and energy used in both the short and long run also worsen environmental quality while FDI influx in the long run improves environmental quality in Turkey. These outcomes have far-reaching environment-urbanization growth implications. From a policy lens, the current study subscribed to the environmental stick policies and investment on strategies on a paradigm shift from fossil-fuel energy consumption base to renewables. Further insights are highlighted in the concluding section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pakistan is an agrarian country, and the usage of agriculture technologies has increased in this country over the period of time. Extensive use of agriculture technologies may have detrimental impact of environment quality through an increase in carbon dioxide emissions. This study examines the impact of agriculture technologies on carbon emissions in Pakistan by using the annual time series data for the period 1973–2018. For long-run and short-run analysis, autoregressive distributed lag model is applied and the results reveal that cointegration exists among the variables. Long-run results show a significant positive impact of pesticide and economic growth on carbon emission, whereas short-run results confirm the positive effect of economic growth on carbon emissions in Pakistan. This study has important policy implications, such as to increase sustainable economic growth through agriculture sector; there is a need to introduce green technologies that produce less carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades, environmental quality-related issues have occupied a central place in the global discourse with greater concerns to the risk of civil war, terrorism/political violence, civil disorders, and corruption which alter economic sustenance and social structures in the world. This study presents and analyses an empirical model of economic and social issues related to environmental quality within the context of the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) in Nigeria between 1990 and 2016. The empirical results based on the standard ARDL model show that increases in internal conflict and corruption are environmentally deteriorative while increases in renewable energy consumption are found to be a major driver behind environmental quality improvement. The results also show that economic growth stimulates environmental degradation and hence validates the EKC hypothesis in Nigeria. These results are robust across the estimates of the dynamic ARDL simulations with deviation only in the responses ofshocks to internal conflict and corruption which significantly dampen environmental degradation in the short run––and the predicted values remain large over the long run. Furthermore, a unidirectional causal relationship flows from economic growth to ecological footprint, renewable energy, and corruption. Also, renewable energy has a predictive power for ecological footprint. In addition, internal conflict predicts renewable energy, while a change in internal conflict is caused by corruption. These findings, therefore, provide insightful policy implications for stimulating the consumption of renewable energy as a tool for sustainable cleaner environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Environmental concerns are growing globally. The world has suffered severe environmental deterioration over the years. Undeniably, the impact of environmental degradation on the earth's geographical space is alarming, making environmental stakeholders to be worried. Existing literature has examined several factors affecting the environment, but the focus has now shifted to education and the need to maximize its potentials. Although studies have examined the direct impacts of education on the environment, those investigating its moderating role are relatively new and scarce, particularly across income groups. Understanding the channel through which education might affect the environment requires the knowledge of its moderating role. Therefore, this study employs FMOLS, DOLS, ARDL-PMG, CCEMG and heterogeneous panel causality test methodologies to investigate the direct and moderating effects of education in the growth-energy-environment linkages in heterogeneous income groups of 92 countries from 1985 to 2018. Results: The findings of this study indicate that economic growth is a long-term solution to environmental deterioration in high and upper-middle-income countries, while the opposite holds for lower-middle-income and low-income countries. In addition, energy consumption is linked with environmental degradation across all income groups. Also, the study finds that education's direct effects aggravate environmental degradation across all income groups. Moreover, its moderating role ameliorates the adverse effects of energy consumption on environmental degradation in high and upper-middle-income groups but worsens it in the lower-middle-income and low-income groups. Conclusion: This study examines the role of education in economic growth, energy consumption and environmental degradation nexus. The study concludes that education is important for environmental sustainability as it encourages pro-environmental behaviors and attitudes and supports energy-efficient products and investments in green technologies. However, education may also aid energy-intensive activities and dirty technology by supporting lifestyles that are not eco-friendly. It is important, therefore, to provide education that promotes better environmental quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examined the nexus between economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, population growth, and carbon emissions in the BRICS economies from 1990 to 2019. In order to yield valid and reliable outcomes, modern econometric techniques that are vigorous to cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity were employed. From the findings, the studied panel was heterogeneous and cross-sectionally dependent. Also, all the series were first differenced stationary and co-integrated in the long run. The Augmented Mean Group (AMG) and the Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCEMG) estimators were employed to estimate the elastic effects of the predictors on the explained variable, and from the output of both estimators, energy consumption worsened environmental quality via high carbon emissions. Also, the AMG estimator affirmed economic growth to be a significantly positive determinant of carbon emissions. However, both estimators confirmed urbanization and population growth as trivial predictors of the emissivities of carbon. On the causal connections amidst the series, there was bidirectional causality between economic growth and carbon emissions, between energy consumption and economic growth, between economic growth and population growth, between energy consumption and urbanization, and between economic growth and urbanization. Lastly, a causation from urbanization to carbon emissions was unfolded. Policy implications are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of studies on the relationship between technological innovation and CO2 emissions has gradually increased in recent years, although there is no clear agreement in the literature. Previous research has revealed both positive and negative consequences of technological innovation on the environment. Moreover, most researchers have used linear approaches to explore this connection, which can result in spurious outcomes when nonlinearities exist in the data. According to this background, this research utilizes asymmetric ARDL and spectral causality approaches to assess the asymmetric connection between technological innovation and CO2 emissions in Sweden utilizing data from 1980 to 2018. In addition, the disaggregated asymmetric effects of technological innovation (patent resident and patent nonresident) on CO2 are also captured in this study. The Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed lag (NARDL) results showed that positive (negative) shocks in economic growth enhance environmental quality in Sweden. Furthermore, a positive (negative) shock in technological innovation causes a decrease (increase) in CO2. Similarly, a positive (negative) shock in patent nonresident and residents leads to a decrease (increase) in CO2 emissions in Sweden. The outcomes from the spectral causality revealed that in the medium and long term, aggregate and disaggregate technological innovation can predict CO2 emissions in Sweden. This study has significant policy implications for policymakers and the government in Sweden. Based on these findings, the study suggests that the government of Sweden should investment in technological innovation since it plays a vital role in curbing environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sub-Saharan African region is considered to be the most susceptible to the effects of climate change. The region's climate is influenced by several factors, the most notable of which is increased variation in development. The conglomerate between the financial sector and environmental quality (EQ) has been a priority for policymakers and analysts. This study looked at the complex relationships between financial development (FD) and environmental quality, as well as the position of economic growth (EG), from the perceptions of the five sub-national economies, from 1980 to 2017. The study tested the EKC hypothesis across the sub-regions. We employed the panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model in a generalized method of moment framework to investigate the topic. The PVAR result showed that (i) financial development had a negative impact on CO2 in four geographical regions (Western, Southern, Northern, and Central). As a result, FD in these countries minimizes carbon emissions and enhances the atmosphere. (ii) Also, FD had a positive impact on carbon emissions in Western Africa. As a result, FD in these countries increases CO2 rather than improving environmental quality. The EKC hypothesis was validated in the Western African sub-region but was rejected in Central and Eastern (u-shape relationship) African sub-regional economies indicating variations in growth and environmental outcomes among the sub-regional economies. The Granger causality results in the West and Central African republics was a two-way causal connection between EG and CO2. The results demonstrate how "EG and CO2" and "CO2 and EG" are intertwined in Western and Central, while most of the relationships were unidirectional. Detailed sub-regional policy recommendations are deliberated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is in a clash between the perspectives of economic expansion and sustainable environment. The high pace of technological progress opens space for fostering economic growth but at the same time, it creates a big dilemma for humans in protecting the environmental quality. The environmentally specific technologies are expected to help human beings to achieve dual objectives of economic prosperity and environmental sustainability. Despite its importance, attention to the role of environmental-related technologies in reducing environmental degradation is limited. This paper, therefore, intends to discover the impact of environmental-related technologies on the ecological footprint for 20 OECD from 1990 to 2015. The results endorse a long-run relationship between ecological footprint and green technologies, renewable energy, international trade, energy intensity, and real income. Environmental-related technologies and renewable energy consumption are found to be impetuous to sustainable development. The study provides relevant implications for policymakers to support the development and adoption of green technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]