Factors influencing CO2 emissions in the MENA countries: the roles of renewable and non-renewable energy

Reintroducing evidence of the role of energy usage dynamics on environmental management in E7 countries

This study examines the environmental impacts of per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and energy consumption in E7 countries (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia and Turkey). As an innovative contribution to the literature, this is one of the first studies to integrate the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and the Energy Kuznets Hypothesis (EKH). Using unbalanced panel data for 1988-2022, the effects of renewable and non-renewable energy sources on environmental degradation are analyzed. The findings show that economic growth initially increases environmental degradation, but this effect reverses after a certain threshold. When the model is extended with the EKH, it is found that renewable energy use promotes environmental sustainability, whereas non-renewable sources increase environmental damage. The results of the study provide generalizable policy recommendations not only for E7 countries but also for all emerging economies in the energy transition. In particular, it is suggested that differentiating energy policies and regulatory quality according to countries' income levels can accelerate environmental improvement. In this respect, the study provides a multidimensional roadmap for sustainable development strategies that applies to policymakers.

Dynamic role of medium- and high-tech industries and environmental policy stringency in environmental sustainability: fresh insights from Dynamic Seemingly Unrelated Regression (DSUR) analysis

Since the last two decades, carbon neutrality has become a primary target of all economies. Governmental environmental policies stand as the most potent tools in the arsenal when it comes to tempering the effects of climate change. Fostering the adoption of green energy sources and embracing energy efficiency principles may assume an essential role in upholding the standard of ecological integrity. The primary objective of this inquiry revolves around the meticulous analysis of the intricate interplay between economic growth, the trajectory of industrialization, the up-gradation of industrial sector structure, the integration of green energy paradigms, and the implementation of energy efficiency strategies and environmental policies in the frame spanning from 2000 to 2019. To tackle the matter of cross-sectional dependency and heterogeneity, second-generation cointegration estimators, Dynamic Seemingly Unrelated Regression (DSUR) and Augmented Mean Group (AMG), were employed to estimate long-run relationships. The consequences of DSUR and AMG indicate that while economic and industrial growth contributes to environmental degradation, renewable energy usage, and medium-high-tech industries mitigate the carbon emissions in selected countries. Further study results suggest that energy intensity positively impacts environmental degradation, which means energy efficiency helps mitigate CO2 emissions in these countries. This study also reveals that the degree of stringency in environmental policy negatively affects CO2 releases in the selected nations. Consequently, our study recommends the enhancement of the stringency of environmental policies, promoting environmentally friendly energy usage, the efficient use of energy, and the advancement of industries into medium-high-tech industries as effective ways to mitigate climate change in specific developing countries.

Can forests realize the carbon neutrality dream? Evidence from a global sample

The enlarge in economic activities and the urban population at the global level has brought about an increase in the demand for energy, food, and natural resources, as well as an exacerbation in global climate change concerns. In this respect, it is important to ensure the balance between global climate change and global economic activities. Therefore, a wide literature has emerged that searches for alternative solutions to improve climate change and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The majority of existing studies emphasize the importance of renewable energy sources in environmental improvement efforts. Few studies highlight the importance of forestation in environmental improvement efforts, highlighting the non-linear effects of forestation. To fill this gap, this study uses panel data from 181 countries between 1990 and 2022 and evaluates the non-linear impact of economic growth, forest extent, energy efficiency, and urban growth on per capita CO2 emissions using a dynamic panel threshold and dynamic panel quantile threshold methods. Furthermore, we extend the model and conduct robustness tests examining the non-linear threshold effects of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption on per capita CO2 emissions. Our findings provide pieces of evidence that forest extents are an alternative solution to renewable energy use and energy efficiency in environmental improvement efforts.

When do climate change legislation and clean energy policies matter for net-zero emissions?

Achieving the global decarbonization goal under global conflicts is becoming more uncertain. Within this context, this article seeks to examine the effects of global environmental management and efforts to achieve this goal. Specifically, it investigates the role of democracy, control of corruption, and civil society participation as mechanisms that moderate the impact of environmental policy and legislation, particularly clean energy policy and climate change legislation (laws and regulations), on carbon emissions in highly polluted countries. The empirical results show that (i) the effects of democracy-clean energy policies and climate change legislation are relatively small in reducing carbon emissions; (ii) the effect of controlling corruption-climate change regulations is strong in reducing emissions, meaning that governments with higher control of corruption are more effective at enacting and executing laws and regulations dealing with environmental challenges which help achieve desirable environmental outcomes; (iii) strong civil society participation helps the execution of clean energy policies and climate change legislation to curb emissions, and (iv) the robustness check also provides strong evidence that higher control of corruption can contribute to the effectiveness of these policies and legislation in reducing carbon emissions. Overall, these findings suggest that the efficiency of well-designed environmental policy and legislation should be supported by a combination of higher civil society participation and greater control of corruption that can efficiently enforce such policies and legislation.

Do renewable energy and human capital facilitate the improvement of environmental quality in the United States? A new perspective on environmental issues with the load capacity factor

Recently, countries have been making intensive efforts to alleviate the burden on the environment and to make environmental conditions sustainable. In this context, our study aims to investigate the long-term impact of renewable energy consumption (REC) and human capital (HC) by considering the load capacity factor (LCF). We also investigate the long-term impact of economic growth (Y) and non-renewable energy consumption (NREC) on the LCF. In this context, we analyze annual data for the U.S. for the period 1965-2018 using the newly developed augmented ARDL (AARDL) approach. The long-term empirical results show the following. i) Increases in Y negatively affect LCF and deteriorate environmental quality. ii) Increases in NREC negatively affect LCF and accelerate the deterioration of environmental quality. iii) REC has no significant impact on environmental quality. iv) Increases in HC support the improvement of environmental quality. The empirical results show that contrary to expectations, renewable energy consumption does not have a significant impact on environmental quality in the U.S., whereas human capital is an important factor in improving environmental quality. In this context, US policymakers should pave the way for more investment in eco-friendly renewable energy investments and human capital to establish sustainable environmental quality. Policymakers should also take steps to reduce the use of fossil fuels.

Can undergoing renewable energy transition assist the BRICS countries in achieving environmental sustainability?

The BRICS countries ratified the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda whereby ensuring environmental sustainability is of paramount importance for these emerging market economies. Although the BRICS nations have recorded noteworthy economic growth trajectories over the last couple of decades, these nations have not fared well in terms of improving their environmental indicators, especially due to gradually becoming more fossil fuel dependent over time. Hence, this study aims to explore whether undergoing the renewable energy transition can directly and indirectly establish environmental sustainability in the BRICS countries by containing their annual growth rates of carbon dioxide emissions. Additionally, the emission growth rate-influencing effects of technological innovation, foreign direct investment receipts, urbanization, and institutional quality are also evaluated. Based on data spanning from 1996 to 2021 and considering the result obtained using advanced panel data estimators, the findings endorse that the yearly carbon emission growth rates are (a) unaffected by undergoing the renewable energy transition on its own; (b) positively impacted by technological innovation, net receipts of foreign direct investment, and urbanization; and (c) negatively impacted by improving institutional quality through effective controlling of the spread of corruption. More importantly, the results verify the joint carbon emission growth rate-mitigating impact of renewable energy transition and institutional quality improvement. Hence, for abating the emission growth rate figures, several policies are prescribed.

The effects of carbon inequality on economic growth: new evidence from MENA region

This study emphasizes the impact of carbon inequality on the economic growth of Middle East-North African (MENA) economies from 1995 to 2019. By employing the panel cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lags method (Chudik and Pesaran 2015), we explored the effect of the carbon footprint of top-income classes on economic performance in both the short and long term. The empirical results assume that carbon inequality indicators boost economic growth in the short and long run. In other words, economic growth may be slowed when carbon inequality is reduced. Our study has important implications for climate policy in the MENA region. In this context, relying on a carbon tax can increase business costs and reduce investment incentives leading to a decline in growth. Governments should adopt a more comprehensive approach incorporating other policy instruments such as nudging techniques, financial incentives, and public awareness campaigns. As a result, wealthy people will be encouraged to promote sustainable choices and behaviors that guarantee the progressive transition to low-carbon activities without hurting economic growth.

GVCs and environmental sustainability in MENA: Do digitalization and institutions make a difference?

The advent of digitalization has brought about profound changes in the global value chain, raising significant concerns about environmental sustainability. However, the environmental consequences resulting from the interplay between global value chain participation and digitalization have not been adequately explored, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA). To address this gap, our research delves into the impact of global value chain participation on environmental sustainability in 15 MENA countries from 1996 to 2018. We also investigate the moderating effects of two critical policy variables: digitization and institutional quality, employing the SYS-GMM Panel method and Random Effects method. Empirical findings reveal that participating in the global value chain has positive environmental implications for MENA countries. These results hold true and remain consistent when considering forward value participation linkages and oil-importing nations. Furthermore, we observe that the proposed moderators play a significant role in shaping the environmental impact of the global value chain. Specifically, institutions and global value chains work in synergy to promote environmental sustainability in MENA, encompassing both oil-importing and oil-exporting groups. However, the interaction between the global value chain and digitalization generates a negative net effect, which diminishes beyond a specific digitalization threshold of 10.23%. Consequently, implementing complementary policies becomes crucial when digitization is below this threshold. Additionally, our study supports the resource curse hypothesis for the MENA region, suggesting that natural resources contribute to environmental degradation. These insights offer valuable guidance for enhancing global value chain integration while preserving a sustainable environment in MENA.

Investigating the EKC hypothesis with disaggregated energy use and multi-sector production

The Middle East and North African (MENA) economies experienced substantial economic fluctuations due to variations in carbon emissions and energy use. For this purpose, the present study examines the factors influencing carbon emissions in MENA economies, particularly economic growth and energy use. To this end, this study disaggregates economic growth into three sectors (agriculture, industry, and services) and energy use into renewable and non-renewable, and examines their environmental impacts by including the roles of urbanization and trade openness in the environment Kuznets curve (EKC) framework. This study uses panel data from 16 MENA countries over the period 1990-2018 to estimate the short-run and long-run coefficients and the Granger causality between the variables. The empirical results using the Mean Augmented Group (AMG) and the Common Correlated Effects Mean Group (CCE-MG) revealed that (i) the signs of GDP per capita and its squared scores validate the EKC hypothesis only at the aggregate level; (ii) the coefficients of sectoral GDP show that the industry and services sectors have the highest contributions to carbon emissions in the MENA region; (iii) non-renewable energy increases emissions, whereas renewable energy lessens them. The outcomes of the Granger causality confirm (i) a bidirectional relationship between emissions and per capita GDP as well as sectoral GDP, between CO2 emissions and renewable energy, and between per capita GDP and renewable and non-renewable energy however; (ii) a unidirectional causal impact running from non-renewable energy to CO2 emissions is found in the short term. The study calls for effective policies to focus on curbing emissions in secondary and tertiary economic sectors by growing the part of renewable energy in the total energy mix.

A dynamic relationship between renewable energy, agriculture, globalization, and ecological footprint of the five most populous countries in Asia

This study aims to examine the impact of globalization, renewable energy consumption, and agricultural value addition on the ecological footprint of selected five most populous countries in Asia during the period 1975-2020. The Westerlund cointegration test supports long-term cointegration relationships among the considered variables in selected countries. The long-term resilience results of the second-generation cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag approach evidently demonstrate that agricultural value addition and globalization contribute significantly to the long-term ecological footprint of the five most populous countries in Asia. However, renewable energy consumption significantly reduces the ecological footprint. Moreover, the impact of economic growth on ecological footprint is significantly positive, while the square of economic growth had a significantly negative impact on ecological footprint, thus validating the inverted U-shaped environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for specific Asian densely populated countries. The causality test results of Dumitrescu and Hurlin support the feedback hypothesis by showing a two-way causal relationship between renewable energy consumption and economic growth. There is also a two-way causal relationship between agricultural value added and ecological footprint. Strategically, specific densely populated countries in Asia should encourage clean energy production and consumption in the agricultural sector, and the adoption of environmentally friendly technologies can improve environmental quality and agricultural production.

Oil and natural gas rents and CO2 emissions nexus in MENA: spatial analysis

Background

Oil rents (OR) and natural gas rents (NGR) have significant contributions to the income of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economies and may increase emissions. Moreover, spatial autocorrelation is expected in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions due to the geographically closed economies in the MENA region. Thus, we examine the impact of OR and NGR on CO₂ emissions caring spatial dimensions and analyze the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC).

Methods

We apply the spatial Durbin model technique on the effects of OR, NGR, and economic growth on CO₂ emissions in 17 MENA nations from 2000-2019, i.e., Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Yemen. Moreover, diagnostic tests are applied to reach the most appropriate spatial specification and to have the most robust results.

Results

The results disclose that CO₂ emissions have spillovers and emissions of any country can damage the environment of neighboring countries. The EKC is corroborated with a turning point of 38,698 constant 2015 US dollars. Israel and Qatar are in 2^nd phase of the EKC, and 15 MENA economies are in 1^st stage. Thus, the economic expansion of most economies has ecological concerns. The effect of natural gas rents is found statistically insignificant. Oil rents have minute negative effects on emissions of local economies with an elasticity coefficient of -0.2117. Nevertheless, these have a positive indirect effect with an elasticity coefficient of 0.5328. Thus, the net effect of oil rents is positive. One percent increase in oil rents could accelerate 0.3211% of emissions. Thus, we suggest the MENA countries reduce reliance on oil rents in their income to avoid the negative environmental effects of the oil sector.

Modelling the asymmetric effects of renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions in India: Empirical findings from the NARDL and Wavelet Coherence Approach

A major challenge for humans in the twenty-first century is devising a way to minimize environmental pollution while fostering economic growth that will not deplete the planet's resources. Despite increased awareness of climate change and efforts to combat it, the amount of pollution emissions on the Earth continues to drop significantly. This study employs cutting-edge econometric methods to examine the long- and short-term asymmetric and causal impacts of renewable and non-renewable energy consumption and financial development on CO2 emissions in India at both aggregate and disaggregated levels. Thus, this work fills a significant gap in research. A time series from 1965 to 2020 was used for this study. Wavelet coherence was employed to investigate causal effects among the variables, while the NARDL model addressed long-run and short-run asymmetry effects. Our findings indicate that (i) REC, NREC, FD, and CO2 emissions are all interconnected in the long run, (ii) NREC and FD significantly trigger CO2 emissions in India in the long run, and (iii) the results of a wavelet coherence-based causality test support the long-term estimates of this study.

The international role of education in sustainable lifestyles and economic development

Improved economic growth and environmental protection are necessary to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. This study examines the relationship between people's education levels and sustainable lifestyles in protecting the environment and economic growth, as expressed by the increase in household equivalent income. We conducted an original cross-sectional survey, which yielded 100,956 valid observations in 37 countries. The factors included educational level, sustainable lifestyle with natural resource consumption, and household equivalent income for economic development. We used logit and ordered logit model and applied an ordinary linear regression model after confirming the association between education and income. Our analyses found that higher educational levels were associated with an increase in specific environmentally friendly behaviors and sustainable energy consumption. Individuals in the higher educational level group tended to consume recycled goods, purchase energy-saving household products, conserve electricity, and separate their waste. Additionally, higher levels of education were positively associated with equivalent household income in all 37 countries, indicating better economic development. Thus, our study underscores the importance of improving education at the broad population level to promote economic development and establish cooperative human behaviors necessary to sustain the environment.

Analysis of how environmental degradation affects clean energy transition: evidence from the UAE

Considering the alarming rate of environmental degradation, all countries are looking for solutions to close their environmental gaps in order to ensure long-term sustainability. In order to achieve green ecosystems, economies seeking clean energy are motivated to embrace environmentally friendly practices that can support resource efficiency and sustainability. In this sense, the current paper addresses measuring the link between CO₂ emissions, economic growth (GDP), renewable and non-renewable energy (RE), tourism, financial development, foreign direct investment, and urbanization in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The aim of this paper is to empirically evaluate the link between CO₂ emissions and macroeconomic factors in the UAE. The UAE was chosen as the country for the case study as the UAE is one of the world's richest oil-based economies and one of the countries with the highest per capita income, adopts sustainable technologies, and has signed the Paris agreement supporting the transition to clean energy. To verify the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) for UAE, the timespans for the years 1990-2021 have been chosen according to data availability. The long-run coefficients supported the EKC hypothesis of an inverted U shape for income and CO₂ emissions, according to the findings. Notably, urbanization and financial development both reduce pollution while foreign direct investment increases environmental pollution. The study recommended the creation of more environmental policies to promote sustainable business operations and nationwide green awareness, increase the use of clean energy technology, reduce energy intensity, and achieve a net zero carbon target.

An empirical assessment of the tripartite nexus between environmental pollution, economic growth, and agricultural production in Sub-Saharan African countries

A lot of attention has been paid to environmental pollution worldwide, due to the increase in anthropogenic activities. Massive investment in non-renewable energy options raises questions regarding environmental sustainability and how to maximize food and non-food output while still preserving a healthy ecosystem. To this end, the present study explores the three-way nexus between economic growth, CO₂ emission, and agriculture-value added will accounting for other control variables across a balanced panel of selected African economies from 1997 to 2020. Panel econometrics method of the generalized method of moments (two-step difference GMM) is used to obtain a robust result. From the present study, the environmental pollution model shows that economic growth significantly contributes to environmental pollution in Africa. Additionally, the food price index, capital, and FDI promote pollution, while agricultural production and labor decrease pollution. In the case of the economic growth model, the findings reveal that environmental pollution supports the growth-led pollution hypothesis. Also, the food price index and capital ameliorate economic growth, while foreign direct investments decrease economic growth. Finally, the agricultural production model indicates that economic growth increases agricultural production when the interaction term between GDPC and FDI is included in the model. In summary, the combination of explanatory variables, environmental pollution, capital, and foreign direct investment decreases agricultural production. On the contrary, the food price index and labor promote agricultural production in Africa. Furthermore, the study provides a lot of policies for authorities and stakeholders in Sub-Saharan African countries and other developing economies.

On energy transition-led sustainable environment in COP26 era: policy implications from tourism, transportation services, and technological innovations for Gulf countries

The present generation is witnessing the most devastating effects of global warming far beyond what was evident in the pre-industrial era. To forestall further ecosystem destruction, nations are working assiduously toward achieving sustainable global environment in decades to come, specifically by 2050. This ambitious goal prompts the convergence of countries in the last climate conference tagged COP26 which provides the roadmap to global sustainability. The resolutions of COP26 motivate the present study to assess the energy transition-led sustainable environment in Gulf countries, considering tourism, transport services, and technological innovation. The study employs annual data from 2005 to 2019 by relying on advanced second-generation estimators comprising cross-sectional ARDL (CS-ARDL), common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG), and augmented mean group (AMG). The study conducts robustness checks using quantile regression (QR) and quantile plots (QP). The results reveal that nonrenewable energy, tourism, and transport services hinder sustainable environment due to their inducing impacts on carbon emissions. Renewable energy and technological innovations promote sustainable environment by moderating the surge in carbon emissions. The QR results reveal that the regressors' effects are not one-off. For instance, the moderating effects of renewable energy correspond to increasing levels of the quantiles. In contrast, nonrenewable energy posits the opposite, thus confirming the energy transition-led sustainable environment hypothesis in the Gulf countries. Policy implications that drive sustainable environment are suggested based on the findings.

How to improve agricultural value-added in the MENA region? Implementation of Diamond Porter's theory in agriculture

The global economy in recent decades has experienced frequent shocks. Many regions must improve their competitiveness and value-added to deal with this. One of them is in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where a rise in agricultural value-added (AVA) can produce more jobs than in other sectors. It is necessary to consider increasing AVA in the MENA region. Hence, the aim of this study is identifying the determinant factors of AVA in the MENA region. We employed 13 countries in the MENA region as samples in this study. The study's data spans 45 years, from 1975 to 2019. Static panel data regression analysis was employed in this study. AVA can growth by increasing the irrigated land, credit, and human capital. Meanwhile, growing inflation and economic globalization will reduce AVA. Therefore, we recommend that countries in the MENA region have to increase irrigation infrastructure, expand agricultural credit availability, encourage farmers to get a good education, improve research and development, control inflation, and find the best way to implement economic globalization.

Environmental quality, healthcare and research and development in Saudi Arabia

While global warming and climate change associated with increasing carbon dioxide are widely seen to be one of the most serious worldwide dangers to population health, little is known regarding "how" country alters the linkage between increasing CO2 emissions and population health outcomes. Current literature on the health effects of CO2 emissions recommends various factors that may establish a more robust link, including health expenditure and research and development. Therefore, the purpose of this inquiry is to examine the effectiveness of health expenditure and R&D in improving health outcomes through reducing CO2 emissions. Using data for Saudi Arabia over the period 2000-2018, the dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) technique shows that (i) health and R&D expenditures decrease infant mortality and increase life expectancy; (ii) health and R&D expenditures reduce CO2 emissions in all the estimated models; (iii) health and R&D expenditures can improve health outcomes through reducing CO2 emissions; and (iv) health and R&D expenditures have both direct and indirect effect on health outcomes. Policy implications and limitations are also discussed.

Impact of Environmental Quality on Health Outcomes in Saudi Arabia: Does Research and Development Matter?

Recent literature on the health impacts of CO₂ emissions suggests a variety of factors that may establish a more robust link. However, no previous study has explored the role of research and development (R&D) in explaining the nexus between CO₂ emissions and health outcomes. Using data for Saudi Arabia over the period 2000–2018, this paper investigates the ability of R&D (expenditures and environmentally related R&D) to reduce the incidence of emissions on population health outcomes, particularly infant mortality and life expectancy. We find (i) negative impacts of CO₂ emissions on health outcomes; (ii) R&D expenditures have a weak positive impact on health outcomes; (iii) additionally to their direct effects on health outcomes, R&D expenditures remarkably enhanced health outcomes through reducing per capita CO₂ emissions; (iv) R&D expenditures interact with CO₂ from electricity and heat production and from electricity and heat production to negatively influence health outcomes. Similarly, environmentally related R&D, measured by patents environmental-related technologies, interacts with per capita CO₂ emissions to negatively influence health outcomes. To address these negative impacts, we calculated the corresponding R&D thresholds. Policymakers in Saudi Arabia are therefore called to give more and more incentives for R&D to reduce emissions and then improve population health outcomes.