• Energy Research

AbstractEnergy, a basic input to the economic system, plays a pivotal function in development; at the same time, it raises concerns and hurdles to global economies as a result of negative externalities associated with its usage. Economies set various measures to limit these negative externalities and encourage citizens toward renewable energy utilization. Considering a panel of high-income economies over the period of 1990–2020, we empirically examine whether energy-related tax policies (ENT) are helpful to tackle the issue of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions (ENGHGs). Furthermore, we also investigate the role of digitalization (DIG) and financial risk (FINR) for its possible impact on ENGHGs. The advanced econometric techniques include diagnostic tests, Method of Moment Quantile Regression (MMQR), for robustness validation quantile regression, and finally Dumitrescu and Hurlin panel causality check. The findings reveal that ENT policies of selected economies are not helpful to limit ENGHGs in 25th and 50th quantiles effectively. Nevertheless, due to the progressive rise in ENT in the 75th and 90th quantiles, ENT significantly helps to smoothen the path towards a sustainable future. Furthermore, GDP increases, while improvement in FINR decreases ENGHGs. As the selected economies are developed and high-income, it is suggested that a progressive rise in ENT may further limit the issue of ENGHGs.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between carbon emissions (CO2) and economic policy uncertainty for East Asian countries. During recent decades, climate change has become a severe issue globally. To our understanding, the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on CO2 emissions has not been thoroughly studied in the environment-energy literature. To overcome this research gap, this study explores the link between EPU, CO2 emissions, foreign direct investment (FDI), and renewable energy for the panel of four East Asian economies, namely, China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, from 1997 to 2020. We used second-generation econometric estimations to confirm cross-sectional dependence, cointegration, and stationarity among the selected variables. This study finds that economic policy uncertanity (EPU), trade, and GDP have a positive correlation with carbon emissions. However, FDI and renewable energy consumption boost the quality of the environment of East Asian economies. The outcomes of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality estimation revealed two-way association between CO2 and economic policy uncertainty, CO2 and energy consumption, CO2 and economic growth, and CO2 and trade. Afterward, we use the FMOLS estimations for robustness check. Based on the inclusive outcomes, we draw substantial suggestions for decision-makers and urge them to consider the potential negative effects of EPU on CO2 emissions policies. In addition to this, if policymakers seek to simultaneously control EPU and CO2 emissions, they should work out for alternate ways such as the use of green technology related to energy, foreign capital investment, and renewable energy consumption to mitigate CO2 emissions.

To sustain global warming below 2 °C, carbon dioxide emission mitigation has become an extensive worldwide priority. This paper proposes a comprehensive assessment by evaluating the effects of technology transfer, human capital, and renewable energy on carbon dioxide emissions among seven different regions along with the Belt and Road Initiatives from 2008 to 2018. Based on econometric estimations, it is found that human capital, renewable energy, and technology transfer show a negative but significant association with carbon dioxide emissions, indicating that an increase in human capital, renewable energy, and technology transfer can reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the Belt and Road countries. On the other hand, we found a positive and significant relationship between carbon dioxide emissions, economic growth, and foreign direct investment (FDI), indicating that economic growth and foreign direct investment increase carbon emissions. The findings of this study reveal that the adaptation of technology transfer, renewable energy consumption, and human capital are key factors in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions in the Belt and Road counties. Our findings provide evidence of the social advantages of investing in advanced human capital, renewable energy, and technology transfer suggesting a promising route for devoting climate change without impeding economic growth.

The Moroccan government has always advocated reducing energy intensity so as to reach the target of the sustainable development. The current study presents the connection between CO2 emission, energy intensity (EI), natural resource rents (NRRs), energy productivity (EP), and renewable energy (RE) by employing annual time-series data from 1990–2020 for Morocco. Using the ARDL model, the empirical findings illustrate that (i) increasing EI significantly contributes to carbon emissions, (ii) higher consumption of natural resources adversely affects CO2 emissions, and (iii) EP and RE are the key factors to mitigate carbon emissions in both the short term and long term, suggesting that these two factors strengthen the considerable impact of EI and the consumption of natural resources on carbon emissions. Nevertheless, the negative environmental effects are moderately neutralized by adopting significant clean and green energy consumption within the country. The outputs of the robustness test verify the reliability of the regression results. Moreover, a one-way Granger causality running from EI, EP, RE, and NRR to CO2 emissions indicates that any variation in these variables will cause CO2 emissions. The present study offers the latest insights by adding EP and RE into country development and will support government policy makers in decisions related to efficiently abating CO2 emissions.

AbstractEfficient allocation of resources and transition towards cleaner sources of energy are among the key factors in minimizing the negative externalities arising from the growing dependency on fossil fuels. Moreover, environmentally benign trade policies are crucial due to the rapid expansion in global trade and comparative advantage. To explore the relationship between global trade and Consumption‐Based Carbon Emissions (CBCE) in China in the context of renewable energy consumption and energy efficiency from 1990 Q1 to 2020 Q4, this paper employs the dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lags (Dynamic ARDL) model to evaluate the connection between international trade, renewable energy usage, energy efficiency, and CBCE, with the Kernel‐Based Regularized Least Squares analysis being used to determine the causal association. The findings reveal that GDP and imports are directly linked with CBCE in the long run, while exports, energy efficiency, and renewable energy consumption have a negative significant long‐run and short‐run influence on CBCE. In addition, exports help in the reduction of CBCE by sharing and adapting environmentally friendly technologies adopted in, for example, renewable energy and ecological advancements. Renewable energy promotes the quality of the environment, which is attributable to the performance of renewable energy and environmentally friendly technologies that directly stimulate the reduction of CBCE emissions. By cutting CBCE, energy efficiency tends to boost environmental quality. The research findings have noteworthy policy implications; trade enhances the quality of environment by introducing lower energy intensive production methods and technology that support sustainable development. As a result, this study advocated quite stringent policies in terms of aligning international trade orientation with environmental quality policy in China. Furthermore, energy efficiency policies are required to lower CBCE by focusing on high‐energy‐using industries and providing alternative clean energy sources.

Since climate change mitigation is the central debate of modern literature, the realization of carbon neutrality in response to diversified macroeconomic variables is the most crucial concern of international economies. However, the critical role of trade and renewable electricity output in export diversification-environmental nexus is missing. Therefore, this study investigates the combined influence of trade openness, exports diversification, and renewable electricity output on carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) in China from 1989 through 2019. Applying novel time series econometric techniques robust to structural breaks, following new outcomes are obtained. Firstly, long-run equilibrium cointegration existed among the under-analysis variables. Secondly, export diversification and renewable electricity output are predicted to decelerate CO2, supporting carbon neutrality in the long run. Thirdly, trade openness and gross domestic product accelerated the CO2, delaying carbon neutrality accomplishment. Most importantly, significant structural break dummy interacting with trade openness implicated that during the post-2001 era, China's trade openness extensively deteriorated the environmental quality in the face of trade liberalization obtained after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). Based on empirical results, export diversification and renewable electricity production policies should be mutually non-exclusive and closely coordinated. Further, to counter the carbon emission acceleration impact of trade openness, increasing the share of green tradable products is suggested. Finally, bilateral trade restructuring is recommended to realize the long-term dream of economic sustainability and carbon neutrality.

Carbon neutrality has been widely acknowledged as a challenge to environmental mitigation and global climate change policy. The current study examines the association between collaboration in climate change mitigation technologies (CMTs), energy productivity (EP), natural resources rent (NRR), renewable energy consumption (REC), and environmentally related tax (ET) on CO2 emissions for a panel dataset of 30 OECD economies from 1990 to 2020. This paper employs panel data econometric techniques such as AMG, CCEMG, and CS-ARDL. The empirical outcomes show that CMTs, EP, REC, and ET have a negative effect on CO2 emissions, indicating that their increase will bring about the reduction of carbon emissions, whereas NRR has a positive impact on CO2 emissions, suggesting that its increase will raise CO2 emissions. Most interestingly, REC and EP play a leading role in all selected variables by decarbonizing and effectively converting conventional energy into clean, green energy in the process of energy production and utilization. Finally, the OECD countries are anticipated to transition their energy from conventional resources to renewable sources, which will be validated by the increase in energy productivity and the adoption of clean and green technology in the short term.

AbstractAgriculture is one of the primary contributors to Pakistan's economy. However, over the last few decades, the atmospheric carbon dioxide emission has been amplified to a great extent in Pakistan. This amplification may cause climate change, global warming, and environmental mitigation in Pakistan. This paper empirically investigates the impact of CO2 emissions on the agricultural export trade of Pakistan over the period 1975–2017. Evidence suggests that climate change could be a primary cause for the decline in Pakistan's agriculture export trade; no studies have been carried out for this specific issue, particularly over time. In this paper, the empirical analysis suggests the negative coefficient of agriculture export trade with CO2 emissions subsequently decreases agriculture export trade, which leads to direct impact on Pakistan's economy. Both theoretical and empirical outcomes suggest that the adaptation of clean and green energies and technologies are the key to reduce pollution in Pakistan. Overall, the effects of carbon dioxide emissions on agriculture export trade are stronger in the long‐run dynamics, thus making the finding heterogeneous. Possible initiatives should be taken by the government of Pakistan to improve the agriculture sector and it should also introduce new policies to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide.