Analyzing the Effect of ICT on Migration and Economic Growth in Belt and Road (BRI) Countries

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries have benefited greatly from the intelligent growth of the green economy made possible by the widespread adoption of internet and mobile phone technologies. In addition, renewable energy consumption endorses sustainable development. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine if the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and renewable energy consumption has an effect on sustainable development in BRI countries, while using the augmented mean group (AMG) model, AMG robustness test, and panel Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test to get robust results. According to the results of the study, the information and communication technology, renewable consumption, human capital, and urbanization reduces the emission of carbon dioxide emission in BRI countries while economic growth enhances the CO2 emission. Therefore, it is recommended that BRI countries increase their inter-regional cooperation in order to boost investment in renewable energy, effectively use the spillover effect of technology and knowledge, and end the resource curse in environmental policy. Based on the results, the authors of this paper propose a number of important steps toward environmental sustainability.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a global development strategy, representing great potentials for multilateral trade cooperation and economic growth in Asia, Europe and Africa. The trade volume of commodities along the BRI countries booms in the last few years. The commodities trade attracts extensive attention worldwide, but the waste and scrap (WaS) trade received little attention. To fill this gap, this study reviews the dynamic evolution of the WaS trade network and evaluates the potential WaS trade risks in the BRI countries from three real world scenarios. First, this study constructs the WaS trade networks among the BRI countries from 1989 to 2018. Second, the synopsis of the WaS trade network is reviewed. Third, the shock models are built to analyze the impact of shocks in three scenarios on the stability of trade cooperation among the BRI countries. Finally, the policy implications are provided to promote the WaS trade collaboration among the BRI countries. This study is valuable because it is the first time to identify the WaS trade risk among the BRI countries. It will support policy-makers to build an effective collaboration mechanism to alleviate resource shortage and tackle the global WaS crisis.

How does income inequality affect energy efficiency? Empirical evidence from 33 Belt and Road Initiative countries

Evaluating the impact and heterogeneity of China's OFDI on total-factor carbon emission performance in Belt and Road Initiative countries

Railway and road infrastructure in the Belt and Road Initiative countries: Estimating the impact of transport infrastructure on economic growth

CO2 emissions in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries are precisely influenced by economic determinants, requiring a comprehensive perspective. The BRI can augment its prospects for sustainable development by acknowledging the obstacles it faces and promoting global collaboration. Examining the CO2 emission (CO2e) in BRI countries in response to economic determinants such as financial development (FD), income distribution (ID), foreign direct investment (FDI), economic complexity index (ECI), and economic growth (EG) will determine the study's long-term and short-term impacts. This study introduces a novel concept of CO2es by employing panel data from 1991 to 2020. Thus, the CD, Kao, Pedroni, FMOLS, and pooled mean group-autoregressive distributed lag (PMG-ARDL) tests are utilized to assess cointegration. According to empirical findings, economic determinants (ECI, EG, FDI, and ID) have a statistically significant short-run and long-run impact on CO2e in BRI countries. Policymakers in BRI countries should integrate monetary development, FDI, and CO2es to foster EG, attract FDI, and promote sustainable development through regulatory frameworks.

Since the official launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, China and the BRI countries have been working for the implementation of certain environmental measures to make the BRI project green and clean. For this purpose, China and the BRI countries have planned to implement certain environmental measures. Although China can efficiently implement these measures, most of the BRI countries face technological deficiencies and lack of proper environmental plannings. To tackle these deficiencies, the BRI countries can import environmental technology from China. Moreover, they can communicate their environmental protection policies with China for better policy guidance. The current study, therefore, aims to examine whether the BRI countries’ import of environmental technology from China can reduce carbon emissions in these countries. Moreover, it also examines that whether these countries should follow the environmental policy and the import policy of China or they should follow the six European countries (EU-6) with minimum carbon emissions intensity. This study considers a sample of 88 selected BRI countries (BRI-88) for the period 2001–2019. The results obtained with β convergence (based on the panel quantile regression model) suggest that not all the BRI countries but only the BRI countries with relatively higher carbon emissions intensity can significantly reduce their average carbon emissions intensity by importing environmental technology from China. Moreover, BRI countries can follow the environmental policy of China which is more feasible for them. However, regarding the environmental goods import policy, BRI countries can follow both China and the EU-6.

Association of typhoid fever with floods under climate variability in 82 Belt and Road Initiative countries (2000-2021): A mixed-effects model and implications for water and sanitation infrastructure.

Investment and construction of power infrastructure are directly related to the achievement of sustainable development goals. China's trade and investment with BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) countries have maintained growth trend. The development and construction of these investment projects certainly have impacts on the economic development mode and sustainable development goals of the countries. On collecting the basic information of the renewable energy investment projects, this paper compares and calculates the current power technology structure and grid emission factors of the host countries, and analyses the carbon emission level of electricity generation from the perspective of the whole life cycle. Making it as the benchmark, this paper also analyzes the current China's invested wind and solar energy projects and the carbon emission reduction benefits to the host country. The results show that at present, China has about 36 renewable energy investment projects in BRI countries, with an installed capacity of 15.75GW (China as the project owner or investor), and achieve at least 48.69M tCO2 emission reduction. This shows that China's effective investment and implementation of the green projects will provide a strong impetus for the energy transformation and the improvement of their energy security in BRI countries.

This study investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption (REC), nonrenewable energy consumption (NREC), and carbon emissions on economic growth in 133 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries from 1996 to 2020. We divided our sample into four income groups. For empirical estimation, this study employs panel quantile regression (PQR), and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimation techniques. The results confirm that REC have a positive impact on economic growth and NREC has a negative impact on economic growth. A 1% increase in REC and carbon emissions results in an increase in economic growth of 0.108% and 1.085%, respectively. A 1% increase in NREC reduces economic growth by 0.263% in the full sample countries. There are regional differences, although NREC has a positive impact on economic growth in all income groups in the long run. These novel empirical findings will help policymakers design energy policies to fulfill the target of economic growth in BRI countries.

Epidemiological trends and burden of gallbladder and biliary tract cancer in Belt and Road Initiative countries: A comprehensive analysis from the Global Burden of Disease 2021 database.

There is a global need to jointly build the green Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in order to develop a philosophy of ecological civilisation and achieve sustainable development. This paper aims to analyse the temporal and spatial characteristics of the green development cooperation (GDC) network among BRI regions and countries and explore the reasons for its formation. To this end, the first step was to analyse the spatial and temporal characteristics of green development capability in six regions of 104 BRI countries from 2013 to 2019 using the synthetic evaluation model and entropy method. Next, social network analysis was used to analyse three characteristics of the GDC network: network structure, node structure, and community structure. Moreover, the indicators of network strength and network correlation were used to estimate the structural characteristics of the entire GDC network, while degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality were used to estimate the role and status of countries in the GDC network. In addition, modularity optimisation was used to analyse the community structure and regional effects of the GDC network. The results show that (1) the green development capability of the BRI countries has spatial and temporal heterogeneity. (2) The GDC network among the BRI countries has been initially formed, and has the characteristics of high connectedness, high efficiency, low density, and low hierarchy. (3) The GDC network has community structure and regional effect, showing polycentric and hierarchical characteristics. (4) China, Russia, and the European countries have stronger radiating and controlling power. Central Asian countries along the land Silk Road and Indian Ocean countries along the maritime Silk Road play a significant role as intermediaries and bridges, while the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) countries play a vital role as the central actors. Finally, some theoretical and practical implications are put forward to provide a blueprint for jointly achieving the sustainable development goals.

Climate change with global warming as the main feature associated with fossil energy use has been recognized as a threat to public health and welfare. Energy-related carbon emission reduction is a more serious challenge for BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) countries with rapid economic development. Examining key impact factors is necessary and helpful. This paper is the first study providing detailed country-by-country analyses aiming to identify the key drivers and inhibitors of energy-related carbon emission in 66 BRI countries with more systematic impact factors. The results show that: (1) Economic development (A), population (Ps), urbanization (Pu), and industrialization (Ss) are the key drivers for 52%, 26%, 11%, and 6% countries of BRI countries. Technological progress (T), energy consumption structure (E), and tertiary industry proportion (St) serve as key inhibitors for 65%, 17%, and 8% countries of BRI countries. (2) Different carbon emission reduction strategies should be formed on different geographical scales. At the international level, carbon emission reduction consensus should be reached and carbon emission reduction targets should be formulated. At the regional level of the Belt and Road Initiative, a carbon emission reduction cooperation fund should be established, and carbon emission reduction technologies and measures should be exchanged and data should be shared to promote the green development of the Belt and Road. At the national level, there should be carbon emission reduction policies reflecting national characteristics. At the local level, there should be specific carbon reduction measures in line with local conditions.

The effect of China’s outward foreign direct investment on carbon intensity of Belt and Road Initiative countries: A double-edged sword

This study represents the dynamic association among tourism, corruption, and CO2 emissions in 59 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries from 2002-2020. For estimation, we utilize dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) methods. To check the robustness, we use common correlated effects (CCE) and dynamic common correlated effects (DCCE). The results find that tourism arrivals, and corruption, increase environmental pollution in the long run. The outcomes demonstrate the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. This study finds an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, this study also establishes the linkages between current findings and sustainable development goals (SDGs). The findings suggest that SDGs are applicable as well as achievable in BRI countries. To achieve the SDGs, the governments of BRI countries should take the necessary measures to prevent corruption and ensure environmental protection for sustainable economic development.