Environmental Degradation and Sustainability

Do affluent nations value a clean environment and preserve it? Evaluating the N-shaped environmental Kuznets curve

Since industrialization, the world has been under great strain from rising temperatures. Economies work hard to boost economic growth by sacrificing natural surroundings that are degrading owing to increased carbon emissions from unsustainable production and consumption. The race-to-the-bottom strategy is seen in different parts of the globalized world, corroborating the pollution haven concept and energy-related emissions. The study assumed that once affluent nations reached a particular economic level, they would concentrate on environmental reforms to safeguard environmental and natural resources. The study built a model of the emissions-growth nexus by controlling inward FDI, information and communication technology, research and development expenditures, and renewable energy using aggregated data from high-income nations from 1976 to 2019. The study verified the N-shaped environmental Kuznets curve using a three-degree polynomial factor of per capita income. On the other hand, inward FDI was assessed as having the potential to support the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) by increasing carbon emissions. The data show that the square and cubic forms of per capita income have a significant negative and positive effect on carbon emissions in the long run, corroborating the short-peak V-shaped EKC hypothesis. However, the N-shaped EKC hypothesis between income and emissions is verified in the short run. The PHH confirmed that more inward FDI is associated with higher long-term carbon emissions. For decreasing global carbon emissions and unclean production, stringent and incentive-based regulations are preferable.

Economic Freedom, Education and CO2 Emissions: A Causality Analysis for EU Member States

Environmental sustainability is one of three pillars of sustainability. However, a significant worldwide deterioration in the environment has been experienced since the Industrial Revolution, but the efforts to protect the environment date back to the 1970s. In this context, many economic and non-economic factors underlying environmental degradation have been investigated until today, but the influence of economic freedom indicators and education on the environment have been relatively less analyzed and the researchers have mainly focused on the influence of economic and institutional variables on the environment. Therefore, this paper investigates the reciprocal interplay among economic freedom indicators, education, and environment in EU member states over the 2000–2018 term by using a causality test with cross-sectional dependency and heterogeneity and taking the research gap into consideration. The causality analysis indicates that market-oriented economic structure and education can be beneficial in combatting environmental degradation.