The nexus of sectoral-based CO2 emissions and fiscal policy instruments in the light of Belt and Road Initiative

Exploring the asymmetric effect of fiscal policy instruments in encountering environmental degradation: proposing an SDG framework for India

Asian countries are facing difficulties in attaining sustainable development goals (SDGs), and India is not an exception to it, with environmental degradation being one of the primary issues. Therefore, a policy-level reorientation may be required to address it. From this standpoint, fiscal policy instruments may come in handy towards fully integrating the SDGs into its agenda. The present investigation designs an SDG framework for India that could serve as an example for other Asian nations. This study introduces a new investigation exploring the relationship between fiscal policy instruments and environmental quality in India by examining the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis from 1990 to 2021. A nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model is applied for empirical examination. The findings indicate that positive and negative shocks in fiscal policy instruments have significant impact on carbon emissions in both the long and short run. The study has also found evidence of an "inverted U-shape" EKC for India. These results are valuable from a policy perspective for India and other Asian countries to address environmental issues. The study has also outlined potential outcomes that may benefit India's fiscal policy in resolving environmental issues and attaining better economic growth. In the end, the study proposes a policy framework that supports SDG 7, SDG 8, SDG 12, SDG 13, and SDG 17 objectives.

Analyzing the impact of fintech industry and green financing on energy poverty in the European countries

In the fourth industrial revolution, the fintech has significantly expanded during the last several years, and this has caused scholars to worry about how much electricity is being used. Because energy poverty is one of the most critical social policy concerns facing the majority of nations in the world in the modern era. This study adds to what has already been written by looking at how the fintech industry affects the environment and energy in European countries. The current study investigates how the growing awareness of the need to preserve energy and the environment has an effect on society, and analyzes the role of the fintech industry, green finance, energy efficiency, and research and development on energy poverty across European nations from 2013 to 2020. To estimate long- and short-term impacts, DOLS and FMOLS are used along with diagnostic tests. The outcomes found that there is a tight relationship between energy poverty and all the factors taken into consideration (fintech, green finance, energy efficiency, and R&D). EU governments should employ "green finance" to encourage and enable the fintech industry since fintech plays a vital role in enhancing environmental effectiveness. The financing of environmentally friendly projects is very beneficial and might help alleviate energy poverty. The findings also indicate that more financing, ecological subsidies, and social assistance programs are necessary in order to satisfy the needs for energy and put an end to energy poverty in Europe. Policymakers in the tech world may be especially interested in the results.

Effects of public expenditures on environmental pollution: evidence from G-7 countries

In this study, the effect of public expenditures and, their sub-components on environmental pollution is discussed in G-7 countries. Two different periods were used in the study. These are the period 1997-2020 for general public expenditure, and the period 2008-2020 for public expenditure sub-components. For cointegration, Westerlund cointegration test was used, and according to the analysis result there is a cointegration relationship between general government expenditure and environmental pollution. Panel Fourier Toda-Yamamoto causality test was used to determine the causality relationship between public expenditures and environmental pollution and the result indicates that there is bidirectional causality between public expenditures and CO₂ on a panel basis. For models estimation, System the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) method was used. The findings of the study indicate that general public expenditures decrease environmental pollution. Considering at the results of the sub-components of public expenditures, housing and community amenities, social protection, health expenditure, economic affairs, recreation, culture & religion expenditures have a negative effect on environmental pollution. Other control variables generally  have a statistically significant effect on environmental pollution. Energy consumption and population density increase environmental pollution but environmental policy stringency index, renewable energy and GDP per capita reduce environmental pollution.

Is the environmental Kuznets curve valid for transport sector in Pakistan? New evidence for non-renewable energy and urbanization using the QARDL approach

The transportation industry is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. This study broadens the literature on environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) by assessing Pakistan's carbon dioxide emissions in the transport sector taking into account the impact of non-renewable energy, urbanization, and economic growth for the period of 1995-2018 using the novel QARDL model. Moreover, the outcomes of the study make a momentous benefaction to the literature by focusing a sector that contributes substantially to pollution in Pakistan. Specifically, the study finds that the EKC curve is confirmed for Pakistan's transportation sector in moderate to higher quantiles. Urbanization and non-renewable energy are also two other vital ingredients that dramatically aggravate the destruction of the environment. Except for the lowest (0.05th-10th) and highest (90th-95th) quantiles, urbanization affects transport-based carbon pollution positively. The study concludes by proposing some policy interventions for Pakistan.

Unveiling the nexus between marine energy consumption, seaborne trade, and greenhouse gases emissions from international shipping

As a result of the globalization of production processes and the expansion of international trade, both water-based trade and the use of marine energy are expanding quickly. Marine energy consumption is rapidly increasing as a result of globalization. Despite being ignored for many decades, reducing marine emissions is today a top priority among European nations. Thus, the present study contributes to the existing literature by investigating the nexus between marine energy consumption, seaborne trade, and GHG emissions by employing time series data for eight Northern European nations from 2005 to 2017. The extended EKC model and three proxy variables for seaborne trade (i.e., container throughput, liner shipping connectivity index, and trade openness) are used to investigate the nexus between these variables. FMOLS and DOLS methods have been employed to control the problems of endogeneity and serial correlation. Only in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden did the data corroborate an inverted U-shaped relationship (the EKC curve) between maritime GHG emissions and economic development. The increase in energy utilization across all nations directly increased marine GHG emissions; however, the adverse effect of energy consumption on the environment is severe in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Container throughput, linear shipping connectivity index, and trade openness exhibit a positive impact on marine GHG emissions. The impact of seaborne proxy variables is severe in Denmark and Sweden. In order to have a robust assessment and to confirm the validity and uniformity of the results, Driscoll-Kraay standard errors (DKSE) and robust standard error (RSE) regression techniques are being employed.

Industrial structure, high-quality development of logistics industry and the economy

The logistics industry is closely related to the high-quality economic development. At different levels of industrial structure, the relationship between high-quality development of the logistics industry and the high-quality economic development will vary, resulting in different roles and paths in promoting economic development. However, there is still a lack of research on the relationship between high-quality development of the logistics industry and high-quality economic development at different levels of industrial structure, and further empirical research is needed. It used the benchmark regression model to analyze the impact of the high-quality development of the logistics industry on high-quality economic development, and the panel threshold model was used to analyze the impact of the logistics industry on high-quality economic development at different levels of industrial structure development. The results show that the high-quality development of the logistics industry has a positive role in promoting the high-quality economic development, and in different levels of industrial structure development, the impact of high-quality development level of logistics industry on the high-quality economic development is different. Therefore, it is necessary to further optimize the industrial structure, promote the deep integration and development of logistics and related industries, and continue to promote the high-quality development of the logistics industry. And when formulating development strategies for the logistics industry, governments and enterprises need to consider factors such as changes in industrial structure, the overall goals of national economy, people's livelihood, and social development, in order to provide solid support for achieving high-quality economic development. This paper demonstrates the importance of high-quality development of the logistics industry in high-quality economic development, and it encourages the adoption of different strategies at different stages of industrial structure development to promote high-quality development of the logistics industry, and achieve high-quality economic development.

Panel data analysis of energy conservation and emission reduction on high-quality development of logistics industry in Yangtze River Delta of China

With the implementation of Chinese carbon neutrality policy, the Yangtze River Delta calls for great concern. As a benchmark for the development of Chinese logistics industry, it accompanies energy consumption and environmental problems. This study explores how Chinese logistics industry can achieve energy conservation and emission reduction and high-quality development in the context of carbon neutrality. It analyzes the relationship between the logistics industry and economy, energy, as well as environment in Yangtze River Delta. The data is based on China Statistical Yearbook from 2001 to 2019, by means of the entropy method and panel vector autoregressive (PVAR) model. The main findings are summarized as follows: firstly, the economy, industrial structure, energy, and environment have significant impact on the development of logistics industry in Yangtze River Delta. Secondly, the development of logistics industry in Yangtze River Delta is not balanced. The provinces including Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Anhui have great differences in economy, industrial structure, demographic dividend, energy consumption, and environmental protection, but they show the possibility of complementary advantages. Thirdly, the economic development and energy consumption have bidirectional effects. Environmental protection is relevant to economic development, industrial structure, energy consumption and logistics supply. Finally, some suggestions are provided on how to realize the high-quality development of logistics industry in Yangtze River Delta. In the context of carbon neutrality, it is necessary to consider energy conservation and emission reduction.

Striving towards sustainable development: how environmental degradation and energy efficiency interact with health expenditures in SAARC countries

The previous studies focused on environmental issues, identifying their root causes, urging prompt action to reduce environmental degradation. In this context, the current article extends the literature by incorporating the ecological impacts on the health sector and the role of sustainable development. The present study adds to the body of knowledge by examining the relationship between CO₂ emissions, sustainable development, energy efficiency, energy intensity, and health expenditures for SAARC countries from 2000 to 2020. Fully modified OLS (FMOLS) and dynamic OLS (DOLS) are used and diagnostic tests to check the association between the variables. The empirical analysis validated the long-run impact of the examined factors on health expenditures. The results show that energy efficiency and sustainable development have a statistically significant negative effect on health expenditures, vice-versa for CO₂ emission. Energy efficiency, energy intensity, and CO₂ emissions have been shown to have a one-way causative relationship with health expenditures, but sustainable development and economic growth have a two-way causation relationship. The better health status of the SAARC economies necessitates the establishment of long-term development strategies, environmental sustainability, and an examination of the energy sector. This work's conceptual and empirical advances have significant policy ramifications for this part of the globe and its efforts to improve sustainability.

Nexus between disaggregated energy sources, institutional quality, and environmental degradation in BRI countries: a penal quantile regression analysis

The present study aims to contribute to the existing literature by examining the role of institutional quality in the nexus of disaggregated energy sources and environmental degradation for belt and road initiative countries. To empirically support the theoretically presented propositions, a series of analytical techniques are used, such as LLC, IPS for unit root, Johansen-Fisher panel co-integration to check the long-run association between the considered variables from 2000 to 2020. Further, a panel quantile regression and panel fixed effect model is used in the study to explore the nexus. The study found a long-run association between institutional quality (IQ), energy production from oil (EPOil), natural gas (EPGas), coal (EPCoal), renewables (EPRenew), and CO₂ emission in BRI countries. According to panel unit-root tests, all variables are integrated of order I(1), and the panel co-integration test showed a log-run association among variables. The results of panel quantile regression and panel fixed effect model showed a positive association between IQ and CO₂ emission. Similarly, an association of CO₂ emission with EPGas, EPOil, and EPCoal is also significantly positive. The extraction and use of fossil fuels (natural gas, oil, and coal) pollute the air, while, on the other hand, there is a negative relationship found between CO₂ emission and EPRenew. When developing environmental protection measures, governments should choose to concentrate on the quality of institutions. The effectiveness of institutions in BRI countries will provide appropriate rules, regulations, property rights, and methods to fight corruption, which, if followed systematically, would decrease CO₂ emissions and enhance the quality of the environment in BRI countries.

Trade openness and urbanization impact on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in China

China has witnessed significant growth in trade through vide range trade liberalization strategies and urbanization has also been entered in advanced stage. Based on these dynamics, how much energy consumption of both renewable and none renewable account for energy consumption in whole system is a point of higher attention for the researchers. To understand this salient emerging debatable concern, we investigate the impact of trade openness and urbanization effect on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption in China for the period 1990-2018. We apply the quantile regression technique for the analysis; our results show that trade significantly increases the non-renewable energy consumption in all quintiles while partially increasing renewable energy consumption. This shows that trade activities in production and export commodities heavily rely on non-renewable energy inputs instead of renewable energy inputs. Urbanization affects non-renewable energy consumption only in three quintiles, while its effect is insignificant in most of the quintiles. Similarly, urbanization does not affect renewable energy consumption as in almost all quantiles the coefficients are statistically insignificant. This implies that urbanization is one of the determinants of energy consumption in China. The empirical findings of this study suggest some policy recommendations; first, the government needs to implement certain regulations while expanding trade to minimize the negative effect of non-renewable energy consumption; besides government should provide incentives to industrial units and traders for using renewable energy which may help to attain long term sustainable development goals. The government should also put certain limitations on population moving from rural to urban destinations.

Exploring the dynamic effects of shocks in monetary and fiscal policies on the environment of developing economies: evidence from the CS-ARDL approach

The literature review of ample body indicates that the majority of the studies rely on a single proxy, while exploring the determinants of environmental quality, that can produce misleading results. To subdue this exigency, the current study extends the literature by deploying three proxies (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions) for assessing the environmental quality. In this context, the current study links macroeconomic policies, economic growth, fossil fuel consumption, and renewable energy consumption with the environmental quality for selected developing countries from 1990 to 2017. The Westerlund cointegration test confirms the long-run association among the variables. The advanced econometric technique reveals the following findings. First, the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies degrade the environmental quality by escalating the ratio of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. However, the contractionary fiscal and monetary policies serve as an effective measure to mitigate the detrimental effects of greenhouse gases. Third, gross domestic product and fossil fuels exhibit a positive association with pollution. Fourth, renewable energy enhances the atmospheric quality by disrupting carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emissions. The Granger causality test is also employed to confirm the causal relationship between the variables. Based on the results, we claim that macroeconomic policies are highly sensitive to environmental quality; therefore, some important policies are suggested to attain sustainable and green development.

Investigating whether the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis holds for sectoral CO2 emissions: evidence from developed and developing countries

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions entail a key component of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and are crucial for global warming and climate change issues. Although the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) pattern of the emissions-income nexus has intrigued many researchers for a long time, few studies cover a wide range of economic sectors and a large number of countries, which calls for the re-investigation of sector-wise EKC arguments. Thereby, we investigate the long-run equilibrium relationship between CO₂ emissions and per capita income in a panel of 86 developing and developed countries for the period from 1990 through 2015. Our findings show that the EKC holds for three sectors: the electricity and heat production sector, the commercial and public services sector, and the other energy industry own use sector with the turning points of approximately 21,000 USD, 3000 USD, and 5000 USD, respectively. Additionally, emissions decrease monotonically for the manufacturing industries and construction sector, the residential sector, and the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector, whereas they increase monotonically with the development of the transport sector. Policymakers should consider adopting sector-specific environmental policies based on each sector's unique income-emission relationship, to mitigate CO₂ emissions effectively, and attain sustainable economic growth.