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Carbon mitigation and net-zero targets have an important place on the political agenda for all countries. Countries have been seeking to decouple economic growth and carbon emissions to achieve decarbonization. However, there is a cost of the decarbonization of economies, which can be called as Green Sacrifice Ratio (GSR), and this is critical for developing countries because they have been in the growing stage. By considering the critical role of GSR in achieving net-zero emissions by decarbonizing economies, the study comparatively examines how much environmental quality should be sacrificed for per capita economic growth in China and India. In line with this purpose, the study uses the Fourier-Shin cointegration test and various time series estimators with Fourier approximations for the period from 1989/Q1 to 2022/Q4. Estimation results are as follows: (i) all variables follow the non-stationary process, (ii) the long-run relationship exists between variables, and (iii) Estimation results show that GSR is 0.65% for China and 0.78% for India. Therefore, China and India sacrifice a significant amount of environmental quality for a 1% increase in per capita income level. Also, the ecological cost of increasing economic welfare in India is higher with regard to China. Besides, the results are robust according to the alternative method. Thus, the study recommends that both Chinese and Indian policymakers should revise the economic expansion structure with green growth strategies to prevent irreversible environmental degradation due to higher economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study dynamically examines the impact of foreign direct investment and other explanatory variables on economic growth and carbon emissions, and tests the validity of pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) and environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in China, India, and Singapore from 1980 to 2020. The results of Westerlund's (Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 69(6):709–748, 2007) panel cointegration test illustrate long-run equilibrium relationships among the proposed set of panel variables in the model. The estimated parameters of the AMG, CCEMG, and MG estimators in each of the specified models show that renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, foreign direct investment, and capital accumulation all have significant and progressive effects on economic growth. However, the labor force is insignificant and carbon emissions have a significant negative impact on economic growth. Non-renewable energy consumption significantly stimulates and renewable energy consumption significantly reduces carbon emissions. Moreover, the moderating role of non-renewable energy in the impact of foreign direct investment on carbon emissions is significantly positive, thus validating the PHH. The moderating role of renewable energy consumption in the impact of foreign direct investment on carbon emissions is significantly negative. The study's analysis also clearly validated the inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis in China, India, and Singapore. Policymakers in emerging economies must prioritize the maturity of renewable energy, which not only increases productivity but also protects the environment from damage by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. The governments of China, India, and Singapore should initiate direct foreign inflows based on advanced and clean technologies to avoid environmental degradation and drive higher growth in these economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Added global carbon emissions have mainly come from China and India since 2012, which indicates importance of two countries in curbing global CO 2 emissions. Thus, their respective mitigation lessons have more realistic significance in developing more effective mitigation strategy. This study compared the dynamic evolution of their CO 2 emissions and driving factors behind changes, in order to find similarities and differences of two countries, and provide available policy implications to further reduce carbon emissions. Firstly, both China's and India's carbon emissions have been increasing during 2000-14: 3.4–9.9 Gt and 0.9–2.0 Gt, respectively. However, tendency of two countries varied differently: growth of China 's CO 2 have slowed down after the 2008 financial crisis, while India 's emissions were still accelerating at a high level on account of growing share of carbon-intensive energy in the whole energy structure. From the national and sectoral perspectives, both trends of carbon emissions from two countries have been analyzed. According to structural decomposition analysis, efficiency gains and slowdown of economic growth in China contributed to most decline of CO 2 but both production and consumption structures urged emissions up, while structure effects in India slightly reduced its CO 2 but low emission efficiency and expansion of trade scales caused growth of emissions. On this basis, firstly, China should optimize production structures by upgrading industries, while India should promote energy transformation and improve energy efficiencies. Secondly, strengthening cooperation and communications with developed countries with advanced technology and experience may make more progress in climate change for two countries. Experience and lessons of emission reduction deriving from the two would also provide references for other regions. Image 1 • Investigating CO 2 emissions of China and India for 2000–2014. • Explore main sources and sectors that dominated CO 2 emissions. • Improving efficiency and optimizing energy structure offset China's emission growth. • Optimizing its consumption structure offset India's emission growth. • Optimizing their consumption structure should be considered in China and India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]